Thread by @DyorsMathew

1/ 🧵IV. Call for a Revolution of the mechanisms governing which information is reinforced and most widely spread to address challenges involving climate change and #LongCovid.

This thread is part 4 of 7 of the mother thread #FreshStart2PublicDebate.

2/ The complacency with respect to climate change has been exposing one of the main weaknesses of many societies and their political and legal systems. The pandemic has further exposed this weakness.

3/ This weakness lies in the outdated (no longer suitable) mechanisms of how and what information is reinforced (across the sum of all channels), most widely spread, and thus reaches most people.

4/ In view of the speed of globalization and scientific and technological advances, the threat is that we do not timely build the capacity to deal adequately with the humongous amount of information available and competing for the attention of the masses.

5/ / As a result thereof, political and legal systems are failing to adapt and improve at the required pace.

We are not reacting to climate change and chronic disease based on post virale syndrome fast enough.

6/ The information that is most widely spread and wins the competition for the attention of most people has a decisive influence on:
what is perceived as relevant and/or true by large fractions of the populations;
what is at the heart of political discourse; and
who is elected.

7/ What do you think:

Who and what mechanisms presently rule in different places across the globe over which information is reinforced and reaches the masses vs. which information is suppressed?

8/ At present, a powerful factor influencing which available information is reinforced and which other available information is suppressed, is commercial interest. This may be the most powerful factor in most of the world.

9/ This also leads up to the phenomenon of reinforcement of information that is popular, as opposed to suppression of information that is not popular. Information about the threat of climate breakdown or about #LongCovid is particularly unpopular.

10/ What is popular vs. unpopular is further reinforced vs. suppressed by social media, as a self-reinforcing echo chamber.
darden.virginia.edu/sites/default/…

11/ Information about #LongCovid is unpopular, as it can, if taken seriously, create anxiety. A subconcious mechanism of self-proteciton lies in denialism (self-deception).

12/ The self-deception can involve fantasies of exceptionalism (not being vulnerable) and can also feed off a primitive tendency to react violently at the idea of following rules.

13/ On a larger scale, self-deception can become part of a collective delirium (e.g., PASC denialism) that complements neoliberalist ideologies, greed, and exclusive focus on short term profit.

14/ Consequently, precautionary measures are shamed, as they trigger cognitive dissonance. That makes seeing precautionary measures in place unpopular.

15/ Moreover, when a critical part of the herd practices science denialism and self-deception, it is even harder not to do so as part of the herd. This bias is known as the “Bandwagon Effect”.

https://twitter.com/DyorsMathew/status/1591056345318723585

16/ Biases against information invoking negative emotions favor self-deception. Self-deception is a process of denying or rationalizing away the relevance, significance, or importance of opposing evidence and logical argument.

17/ Self-deception involves convincing oneself of a truth (or lack of truth) so that one does not reveal any self-knowledge of the deception.

18/ Self-deception is the act of lying to yourself, having false notions about things, and refusing to acknowledge the truth. We lie to ourselves when we are not ready to face reality when it may be upsetting and unfavorable.
theapeiron.co.uk/self-deception…

19/ “Self-deception comes from not having enough psychological strength to admit the truth and deal with the consequences that will follow when the truth is acknowledged.”

― Cortney S. Warren, Lies We Tell Ourselves: The Psychology of Self-Deception

20/ Self-deception serves the purpose of temporarily comforting oneself and postponing necessary change. Evidently, there is a human tendency towards self-deception.

21/ However, as resources are limited, predominant commercial and hedonistic information reinforcement principles are a threat. The dominating information can overshadow what would be most relevant.

22/ Here is a detailed report by @ResponsibleSci on the detrimental effects of commercial influence on science and technology
sgr.org.uk/sites/default/…

23/ Multinational corporations (MNCs) play significant roles in shaping the global economy. This article describes Multinational Corporations and their Influence through Lobbying on Foreign Policy
brookings.edu/wp-content/upl…

24/ Assuming that all societal progress is driven by unfettered market competition appears to be a risk for public health.

https://twitter.com/ToshiAkima/status/1584107523363475456

25/ In other words, there are powerful mechanisms at work that prevent the relevant information regarding SARS-CoV-2 dominating the information reaching the vast majority of people.

26/ The described mechanisms have led to a mainstream understanding of #SARSCoV2 based on the two false binaries: the “double binary fallacy” (explained in thread I). These are a fruit of simple minded predispositions to engage in binary thinking.

27/ The first false binary is that health is binary. Considering health to be binary means primarily considering people to be either alive or dead, but not paying much attention to health status.

28/ The second false binary is that immunity is binary. Considering immunity to be binary means primarily considering people to be either immune or not immune to a pathogen, but not paying attention to different aspects of immunity, and to antigenic drift and waning of immunity.

29/ As a consequence, public health measures have so far almost exclusively focused on the acute phase of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

30/ Thus, we need to revolutionize how information is selected and spread. The revolution of information ethics and of corresponding mechanisms governing the spread of information.

31/ This need for adaption, that is postponed on the basis of self-deception, can be understood when thinking about our societies as complex adaptive systems.

32/ According to “big history”, one may understand the advance of our societies as complex adaptive systems (here: the amount of free energy going through a certain amount of mass in a certain amount of time is used as the metric for complexity).

https://twitter.com/ClaudioSalvetti/status/1417259833988898818?s=20&t=6qu6X1kOpNl4dhth3UlYJA

33/ Energy flows to create building blocks, sustain them, and over time, increase their connections.
The rise of complexity may then be seen as an evolution from matter, stars, simple life, complex life, and to societies.

https://twitter.com/ParaLimes/status/1347081418917072896?s=20&t=6qu6X1kOpNl4dhth3UlYJA

34/ The amount of free energy concentration needed to keep humans going may, for what we know, be particularly high. Therefore, communication and the capacity to store and pass on collective ideas was needed.

35/ However, the more complex a system becomes, the more fragile it is. The reason is the large need for a lot of local free energy.

https://twitter.com/OERProject/status/1554503558795431936?s=20&t=6qu6X1kOpNl4dhth3UlYJA

36/ Most of the problems threatening global stability in the modern era come from our global society's need for the energy to either sustain or increase our complexity and the adverse effects upon the biosphere when we harvest that energy.

https://twitter.com/OERProject/status/1309160665559568387?s=20&t=6qu6X1kOpNl4dhth3UlYJA

37/ Nowadays problems are the most complex problems humanity has ever faced. They involve how to keep the economy stable and growing.

38/ Societies with populations that are not optimally informed and increasingly unhealthy (due to a boom of chronic diseases) cannot maintain the current level of complexity (a healthy economy), let alone increase the level of complexity.

39/ We have not managed to design information systems for well-being. We currently lack a global code of information ethics. This currently results in a failure to address the unfolding public health disaster and the unfolding climate disaster. link.springer.com/article/10.100…

40/ The current mechanisms of how information is selected threaten health systems, social systems, and, more generally, the world economy. They threaten our highly complex and thus vulnerable societies as complex adaptive systems.

41/ Therefore, we need to develop a global code of information ethics. What needs to dominate is not what is of short term commercial interest and/or popular, but what actually matters in order to maintain or increase the complexity of our societies.

42/ By virtue of developing and applying information ethics to how information is handled, we can make the effort of overcoming science denialism and self-deception. This involves seeing the threat of climate disaster and, for example, of #LongCovid in the eye.

43/ After all, one of the things that really matters, is maintaining a healthy population. This is the basis for a healthy economy and for being able to face the other challenges for our societies.

44/ In conclusion, we need to see through the mainstream haze.

We need to unmask the double binary fallacy in mainstream thinking. This is an example of where “unmasking” actually makes sense.

45/ Link to the mother thread

https://twitter.com/DyorsMathew/status/1590427508226551808?s=20&t=9TyjOKqe3BI5gLZ1V-m1mw