I think that there is a link between the general decline in IQ and attention span, with...

@Ryannnnnn I get frustrated with religious people I have debates with, who will just flat out state that facts aren't important. But at the same time, there are so many secular people that have such cultish, irrational ways of thinking that it's like they have a vestige of religion still in them.

@cunningcrocodile It's the same dogmatic ideological tribal attitude in religion/politics/general values. It's the reason for most conflicts and I think it's sort of a way to avoid responsibility for ones own thoughts.
They're usually the biggest hypocrits of all, and that's why it's so important to be critical, so we don't become like the people who only care about their position in a mob/group even if it's wrong.

@cunningcrocodile it's a bit like listening to someone that relies solely on facts and what has been proven. They tend to lack feeling like they're dead or robotic.

@Ryannnnnn When I debate it's always me bouncing ideas off the other person. I'd even state one set of evidences, but then I'd go "but then again what about so and so evidence that contradicts that". Constantly trying to learn more. A lot of people - clearly because they don't have the intelligence to study - just take the first thing they hear and try to ascribe moral importance to it because it's much easier to stick to something by pretending other opinions are evil, than researching other facts. You know what really confuses me though? These people are just about smart enough to watch kids tv. Even kids shows explore the idea of a dishonest, agenda driven media (like Jameson in spiderman) so even they are exposed the idea that the tv lies to them. Yet they still unquestionably believe the media. AND demonise innocent, truth seeking individuals who challenge the lies from these big media corporations (whilst pretending to be anti establishment). It's like a parody. But it's real.

@JovialPlutonian They lack the NPC features. The NPC don't think or have facts. They just have some pre-programmed words opinions they are told to have. The playable character is a person with a functioning brain, they can adapt to facts. The NPC however melts down in a similar way that a computer would melt down if overburdened with code.

@cunningcrocodile Yeah I agree. Some people even get offended for trying to be critical and look at both sides, like suggesting otherwise or thinking for yourself is this heretical notion.

Clickbait "journalism" made outrage and anger the new drug for people who believe everything, it generates money for them to be angry and share it. Nobody thinks of the intention behind it, or whether it's entirely aimed for a partisan demographic, as long as it suits their narrative it's truth. It's making people radical and stupid.
People don't see their own hypocrisy..

@Ryannnnnn Urgh, yeah I know what you mean. Literally, if you are just a moderate interested in the truth, and believe that in order to get an accurate view of the world everyone should have the right to speak - you are labelled far right. I try to understand that way of thinking, and I know some people are small minded - but c'mon, when has a fascist government NOT used censorship!? If you think censorship is good, you are taken in by extremists.

And yeah, it's frustrating. I mean, it's in the interests of news outlets to create outrage hit pieces, it gets more shares and they get more money. These idiots know this really, but they care about the dopamine hit from their friends confirming to them how enlightened they are sharing an article about a homophobic nazi, pretending that it's a widespread problem, whilst ignoring it actually being a widespread problem in the islamic world. It's also in these outlet's best interest to pretend independent youtubers are "nazis" to justify banning them so they can bring more eyes and therefore more money back to their company.

@cunningcrocodile It seems everything right of Stalin is far or "alt" right these days. I'm becoming somewhat allergic to the word "nazi" now as it's rarely accurate and nearly always just a smear. Hyperbole in general makes me itch a bit now..

Who cares about signalling to your virtual friends how virtuous you appear to be when the information is probably wrong/even slanderous, and i'd argue there's nothing of virtue in seeking approval and attention.