Saturday, August 5, 2017

The Triumph of the Idiocracy: How Narcissism, Stupidity and the Internet Got Us Donald Trump, an Accidental President @alternet

The Triumph of the Idiocracy: How Narcissism, Stupidity and the Internet Got Us Donald Trump, an Accidental President @alternet:

"Trump is America’s fool-king, proudly ignorant and a living example of the Dunning-Kruger effect. Trump’s supporters appear to be in love with him. They worship him as though he were their personal road to salvation and happiness. Trump’s voters were seduced by "fake news" and all too easily manipulated by Russian agents operating on the internet. Trump’s idiocracy did not blossom overnight. The seeds were planted over decades. They grew and flourished in the right-wing echo chamber provided by Fox News and other media outlets. Researchers have shown that people who consume Fox News programming actually know less about current events than people who do not watch any news programs at all. Shorter version: Fox actually makes its audience stupider. This points to a broader phenomenon. In America, today’s conservatives (as a group and an ideological movement) hold science, empirical reality, intelligence, education and expertise in disdain."