Unit 2 Blog 1

You sign in and wait a second as the screen loads. Then there it is...the welcoming words to your favorite blog letting you know you aren't crazy. You read articles, you connect with and view opinions like your own letting you know you are not alone. You belong here.

Nowadays with the internet people are able to connect with each other easier than when I was growing up as a kid in the 80’s.  It may seem like we have a much larger collection of ideas from which to choose and that our opinions would develop, and change from the sheer exposure of it all. But is this the case? Do we really want new points of view? I don't think we do. By the time we enter a blog and have visited enough to register as a user, sign in and leave comments, our views appear to be formed. Being with 'like mind' and seeking validation for the viewpoints we hold is why we've come. We don't want to be exposed to other viewpoints. We agree with our audience and our posts are a confirmation of those who have already posted. Perhaps our opinion is for a different reason or experience, but it’s the same ice cream just a different flavor. My current English textbook, Writing Arguments, tells us "Typically, appeals to a supportive audience are structured as one-sided arguments that either ignore opposing views or reduce them to "enemy" stereotypes". I agree! Instead of remaining open minded and perusing a smorgasbord of viewpoints like a patron at a buffet, we find ourselves searching for only one dish, our favorite...that comforting validation for what we already believe to be true. Anyone who dares to point out an alternate view, no matter how much evidence is presented, becomes a 'troll' who is scorned and ostracized by the community and is no longer 'one of us'. This rejection of another view keeps the acceptable view narrow and inhibits our ability to think critically. In the article The Modern Decline of Independent Thinking, Steven Mills says, "We are losing our ability and opportunity to think independently and in my view this has serious consequences". He goes on to explain how brain scans have shown we have a tendency to create a 'herd' mentality and that "we are simply thinking less and conforming automatically" (Mills). Imagine, we don't even know we are doing it! As our nation becomes more politically polarized, perhaps we need to take a step back, think critically and get the whole picture. There are many other views that we aren't even aware of, or would even consider, unless we leave the confines of our comfort zone found in our favorite blog. Next time you find yourself seeking that validation, perhaps you should entertain an opposing viewpoint and enter a new blog that offers one. What is there to fear? After all, it was Aristotle who said, "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it" (Aristotle).

Works Cited

Aristotle. 384BC. 4 2011 <http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/1152.html>.

Mills, Stephen. The Rat Race Trap. 12 03 2011. 16 04 2011 <http://www.ratracetrap.com/the-rat-            race-trap/the-modern-decline-in-independent-thinking.html>.

Ramage, John D, John C Bean and John Johnson. Writing Arguments A Rhetoric with Reading     Eighth Edition. Person Education, 2010.