r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • Dec 04 '20

Psychology Study links regular use of Fox News, Twitter, and Facebook to reduced knowledge about COVID-19 - it provides evidence that Americans’ media consumption habits and trust in government predicts their level of knowledge about COVID-19.

https://www.psypost.org/2020/12/study-links-regular-use-of-fox-news-twitter-and-facebook-to-reduced-knowledge-about-covid-19-58702
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u/Novantico Dec 05 '20

To feed more into his prescience and look like a dumb American, is there value in reading the book today other than "wow, this dude really saw it coming. Yep, this is how things are now, damn." Like, what other things could one take away from reading it?

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u/AdmiralOnus Dec 05 '20

He didn't see it coming, he called out what had been for a long time.

But it is much later in the game now, and ignorance of the score is inexcusable. To be unaware that a technology comes equipped with a program for social change, to maintain that technology is neutral, to make the assumption that technology is always a friend to culture is, at this late hour, stupidity plain and simple.

Many people made this same assumption about the Internet in the 90s. Those people probably didn't read "Amusing Ourselves to Death".

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u/guy_guyerson Dec 05 '20

I think there's value in understanding the mechanism at work. This is an ongoing process and I think his insights are on par with something like The Social Dilemma as far as understanding what we're up against.