Is Technology Making Us Sick? by Ian Douglas

Author:Ian Douglas
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
Published: 2020-06-15T00:00:00+00:00

BThe elements of the Facebook and Instagram newsfeed ordering algorithms. The exact weighting of each of these factors in presenting content to users is a closely guarded company secret.

ASanta Barbara County Sherriff Bill Brown with a press conference board showing a photograph of incel mass murderer Elliot Rodger and some of his weapons.

Where normal community provides challenges for the individual, checking their assumptions, introducing contradictory evidence to their hypotheses and generally taking the mickey, this process of giving the user more of what they have already declared or shown that they like tends to feed their prejudices back to them. They are introduced to more people who feel the same way, shown content that backs up what they already think, and taken further. They seek out more content that they agree with. When they find themselves in a mutually confirmatory community, they see less reason to leave and their minds are less likely to be changed.

This looping mechanism goes beyond making the individual feel part of a larger whole and increases feelings of isolation. The further a lonely person turns to their online support network for relief, the stronger the feelings of distance from their proximate geographical community become, compounding their need for digital comfort. People have always gravitated towards groups in which they feel known, seen and supported, be that the Women’s Institute, the local Conservative Club or the Black Panther Party. The difference is that online groups can be accessed at any time, providing a constant way out of challenging situations.

The draw is particularly strong if an individual’s geographical community has become a focus of resentment. Incels, for example, are members of a largely online community of mostly young men, who believe that the world is weighted in favour of monogamous heterosexual romantic pairings, and that women’s freedom to choose their own partners unfairly prioritizes the fulfilment of sexually attractive males. They consider themselves to be unattractive but still believe in male supremacy, and so resent the women they encounter for not giving them the sexual relief to which they feel they are entitled.

Incel is short for ‘involuntary celibate’. Four mass murderers in the USA have been self-described incels. The first, Elliot Rodger, killed six people and injured fourteen more in May 2014 in Isla Vista, California, before committing suicide. On incel message boards, Rodgers is referred to as ‘the supreme gentleman’.

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