Poll of the Day > Do you think people are more extreme today than a few decades ago?

(+) Yeah! (+)

This seems one of those things that happens to everyone as they get older, where the world seems to be changing, sometimes due to legitimate change and other times just due to observing things that you previously ignored or missed.

I've heard lots of arguments online that social media platforms are just reinforcing extreme opinions by allowing people to select a group of people who exclusively agree with them. In some ways, I agree with this. I think people behaving this way also influences their opinions on how other people should act. People seem to expect other people to immediately disavow anyone who questions a talking point. Continuing to associate or interact with someone who's made some kind of faux pas is assumed to be an endorsement of everything they say (or an endorsement of whatever ideology people project onto them). I wonder to what extent the internet is facilitating this kind of behavior

I also see a lot of people online complaining about issues, and then if somebody asks what the problem is, even in good faith, they're told 'it's not my job to educate you' or 'if you don't already know, it's pointless for me to try to tell you', etc. It seems to me that if you were really interested in changing things, wouldn't you have a conversation with someone who was receptive to hearing your opinion?

Maybe another part of it is that people only feel comfortable expressing their extreme opinions online because they know they'll find others who agree due to the sheer odds.

This seems like a general human flaw, but I have no real reference to say if it's increased or not with the rise of the internet or how representative what we see online is of people's true feelings
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That trend has been observed in the US. Republicans and Democrats had significant overlap in the 90s - about 40% agreed on most or all major issues. Since then, the Democrats have shifted left and the Republicans have shifted right - now there is very little overlap between the parties.

What's interesting, though, is that it's not universal, even in the English speaking world. In Canada, there's been an opposite trend - the three major political parties are now closer together than ever. The NDP shed a lot of its hardcore socialist trends under Jack Layton and, while still definitely left wing, is much more centrist now than in the years of Tommy Douglas. By the same token, the Conservatives moved left and appropriated a lot of the Keynesian economics that the Liberals were famous for (and the Liberals themselves cribbed some of the more successful Conservative pet projects, like free trade and an aversion to across-the-board tax increases).
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darkknight109 posted...

That trend has been observed in the US - not sure about anywhere else.

Republicans and Democrats had significant overlap in the 90s - about 40% agreed on most or all major issues. Since then, the Democrats have shifted left and the Republicans have shifted right - now there is very little overlap between the parties.

That's true, I guess I'm mostly talking about the US since I have very little idea about online culture in other countries
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darkknight109 posted...

What's interesting, though, is that it's not universal, even in the English speaking world. In Canada, there's been an opposite trend - the three major political parties are now closer together than ever. The NDP shed a lot of its hardcore socialist trends under Jack Layton and, while still definitely left wing, is much more centrist now than in the years of Tommy Douglas. By the same token, the Conservatives moved left and appropriated a lot of the Keynesian economics that the Liberals were famous for (and the Liberals themselves cribbed some of the more successful Conservative pet projects, like free trade and an aversion to across-the-board tax increases).

That is interesting... I guess that the starting conditions for both countries would have a lot to do with it. Obviously can't entirely blame the internet either, but definitely at least shows that it's not a necessary effect of the internet
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Generally no. 10 years ago, yes. 20, definitely not.
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