Brains vs. News: How damaging legislation goes unnoticed in the age of data

With the Internet's constant availability and the 24-hour news cycle, we are not really able to synthesize information over time. This allows politicians to ram through legislation under the radar while we are busy looking at other distractions. It's called Shock Politics and it is well-documented worldwide.

Reading a newspaper or magazine takes time. Reading a long-form Op-Ed online takes time. Reading a book takes longer still. Watching a cable news network yell-off and finding the view you agree with takes seconds and does not give your brain time to think about what data it just received. Here is a video demonstrating and explaining how thinking works.

Back from that?

Great! So the constant, steady stream of data from news, blogs, and social media mean our brains get to wallow in that delicious short-term snap judgement that isn't difficult at all. EVERYONE experiences this because it's just how our brains work. There is nothing wrong with that.

However, sociopaths and other such manipulators are very good at intuitively understanding what folks want. As a result, many become politicians and business leaders. Do you start to see where I am going with this?

Let's leap forward a little bit. Legislation was passed on March 14th repealing the Dodd-Frank act. That strips away protections put in place to prevent another banking crisis like the one in 2008. Why were so many Democrats involved with passing this? Why didn't we hear more about it?

My inexpert opinion is that our brains prefer stories about people. When we hear about some clown getting fired, it's easier for our brains to place that person into our camp of thought or into the "other." It is much, much harder to parse all the information in a piece of legislation and decide whether or not we should be angry about its contents. We rely on other people, our chosen experts, to tell us. It's basically the same reason we trust Google or Yelp reviews: it's easier to agree with someone's opinion than to form one of our own.

The only way we get past this is to slow down and do the uncomfortable things when it comes to forming opinions. Do not stop at the first article you see because the story is ALWAYS more complex. Or, if you must stop at the first article, refrain from posting about it right away. Tell your cat what you think, or your doggo. Maybe even your mother, if you must. But slow down.

Your sanity and sense of well being will thank you.