I want to respond to Brian Klaas` Substack-article “The Democratization of Information Production is Killing Democracy“ with a description of human fundamental beliefs (biases) that underlie the populist right opinions.
Brian Klaas warns in his article “The Democratization of Information Production is Killing Democracy“ that the democratization of information production has empowered liars, conspiracists, and disinformation agents, ultimately threatening the foundations of democracy (more below)
Response: Fundamental Beliefs
(Maria Trepp):
I am not sure if I share Brian`s analysis. The information and internet influence certainly is PART of the problem. But I think that many Trump voters do spontanously and truely admire him and also feel that they are like him. Many people are short-term oriented with intuitive, ego-centered-thinking. The broad perspective, requiring effort and analytic thinking (system 2 according to Kahneman) is intrinsically less attractive. Internet world inclusively Trump have told people: “Do not care about the future and only care about yourself and people like you”. That is a message that is very welcome for a lot of people. NOT “Bad people”. We all share a naive set of fundamental beliefs (biases) , unless we have learned to take time to think in broader and inclusive and take a long-term-system-2 perspective.
Under stress or if we have not had a chance learning to concentrate on the long term, we all tend to mobilizing the evolutionary defaul system.
It is not so much that people get spoiled and convinced, it is more that the human default system is biased, egocentric and short-term-oriented. Right-wing-politics offline and online encourage the evolutionary default system by telling people that we do not need the complicated and demanding Enlightment thinking any more.
Fundamental beliefs adapted from Oeberst & Imhoff (2023):
| Fundamental belief | |
| My experience is a reasonable reference. | |
| I make correct assessments of the world. | |
| I am good. | |
| My group is a reasonable reference. | |
| My group (members) is (are) good. | |
| People’s attributes (not context) shape outcomes. | |
Argumentation by Brian Klaas
Brian Klaas argues that the democratization of information production, facilitated by the internet and social media, is paradoxically undermining democracy. He highlights that while technological advancements have historically expanded access to information, they also concentrated information production in the hands of a few. However, the internet has fundamentally changed this dynamic. The internet allows anyone with an internet connection to produce and disseminate information.
Klaas identifies two main hypotheses to explain the decline of democracy:
- The (according to Klaas more unlikely) “Bad People” hypothesis, which suggests that a significant portion of the population supports authoritarian leaders.
- The “Bad Information” hypothesis, which posits that the proliferation of misinformation and conspiracy theories is eroding democratic governance.
Voters need accurate information to make informed decisions. Therefore Klaas emphasizes that the quality of information is crucial for democracy. The rise of social media has led to the spread of lies, half-truths, and conspiracy theories. This way media are creating a distorted reality for many people. This has resulted in a fragmented information landscape, where different groups of people inhabit entirely separate realities.
Klaas also discusses the role of partisan media, social media algorithms, and conspiracy theories in shielding authoritarian leaders from accountability. He argues that these factors contribute to the erosion of a shared sense of reality. Such a shared reality is according to him and others essential for democratic problem-solving and compromise.