The Fragmentation
The Information War is the US' second Civil War
Have you ever wondered why people are at each others’ throats on social media? It seems there are only two camps in America: The Trump camp and the Anti-Trump camp. This was true even during the four years of Biden: social discourse was still about Trump.
Even those who don’t follow politics or current events can get drawn into these firefights, if they see an inflammatory post on social media, or during discussions at work, or at family get-togethers.
At some point, a person will inevitably experience the anger associated with an ideologically divided society.
Narratives
What are the elements behind this polarizing social discourse?
Well, one element is that reasoned thinking and self-reflection are buried by emotional attachment to Narratives. Headline: Trump eliminates the Department of Education. This is certain to trigger lefties. Headline: Paid Soros protestors demand the return of Tren de Aragua gang members sent to El Salvador prison. This is sure to trigger those on the right. There are hundreds of others.
The structure of a Narrative doesn’t provide information; it is designed to appeal to a fixed identity (supplied by the Narrative) instead of self-reflection and reasoned thinking. In other words, the Narrative supports a belief in the correctness of the Narrative – often in the form of ad hominem attacks on those who do not agree. A friend of mine, for instance, directed me to an NBC News article to support his claim that a certain social commentator is not to be trusted. I wanted to read the article because I have been following this guy – who used to work in the cyber division at the State Department – for three years. Unfortunately the article was filled with unsubstantiated attacks on his character and used terms like “fascist” and “racist.”
For those who embrace a Narrative, these attack words are perfectly legitimate because they support the Cause. By its nature, a Cause is collectivist. The Cause is legitimate not because it makes sense, but because more and more people subscribe to it. A collectivist mindset is substituted for personal reflection.
“The enemy” becomes the organizing principle around which thought and belief organize. Unfortunately, polarization results because competing Narratives are shaped by opposing Narratives. This escalates conflict, which is required to supply the energy that sustains the Narrative. As those in support of the Narrative grow, it takes on a life of its own. Debate becomes emotional rather than reasoned.
In the US this statement used to be true: “I disagree with you but I will defend your right to say it.”
That generous mindset would be considered treasonous today, because Narratives provide a substitute for reason and give-and-take. Narratives provide an Identity for those who are angry, confused, and conflicted. This results in people taking sides without investigating or researching a subject. When research is conducted it often consists of looking for articles on the internet to support the favored Narrative. I know this because I have done it myself!
Fracturing
Failure to research a subject results in internal psychic contradictions, because Narratives are based in emotions. When a person discovers something that shows his or her Narrative to be incorrect, the contradiction is suppressed, not resolved. This causes a sort of mental fracturing, which requires the believer to rely even more on the Narrative for mental and emotional stability.
Otherwise, the believer experiences even more confusion and psychic discomfort.
The escalation of Narrative conflict prepares a person to embrace contradiction, because the language within the Narrative is often internally self-contradictory. Feeling emotionally and mentally stable makes far more sense to people than looking at the reality of a situation and being forced to embrace conflicting “facts.”
This causes more irrational thinking and behavior.
“All liberals want to defund the police and send criminals back on the streets,” is a Narrative people on the right embrace. “Right-wing Trump supporters are all fascists and racists,” is a Narrative lefties embrace.
Both Narratives are irrational, generalized, and serve to demonize large groups of people. They are not designed to promote healthy debate, and stick people on one side or the other. Therefore, once a person enters the Narrative War he or she tends to remain there.
With the level of discussion at this low level of consciousness, conflict is inevitable. That is why some predict a second civil war. (Actually, we are already in the middle of the Second Civil War, but it is being fought as an Information War and not a kinetic war. During the past 160 years we have advanced some little way in consciousness.)
What to do?
The only explanation for current events that makes sense to me is an esoteric one. The situation is too big, with too many people, for simple solutions.
Human consciousness is in the middle of a great Shift. The conflict we see is the result of 8 billion humans desperately searching for a better life, and an end to the millennia-old Age of Conflict and War. I believe that all planets in this galaxy must go through a war between light and dark. Some make it, some don’t.
This planet has been mired in darkness since the last Ice Age 12,000 years ago. Now, that darkness is being exposed by an explosion of awareness in human consciousness. More and more Light is shining, exposing the dark underbelly of the human psyche. It’s always been this way, but much more hidden.
Fortunately the dark can no longer hide. Slowly but surely humanity is making its way toward a peaceful world, because the vast majority of human beings want it that way. The Information War is all part of the bigger picture.