The authoritarian personality and building a new world
Listen below, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you stream your podcasts.
Today’s episode is an essay I wrote for The New Quo Learning Community about a concept called mean world syndrome, which was first coined in the 1970s by Dr George Gerbner, who discovered a cognitive bias where, over time, we start to see the world as more dangerous than it actually is due to long-term, moderate to heavy exposure to violence-related content through mass media (such as news reports and television shows). Those who are affected may experience increased feelings of fear, anxiety, and general pessimism. 45, Musk, and Zuckerberg and other leaders have a vested interest in exploiting individuals' mean world syndrome bias by pushing negative messaging to garner support for oppressive policies, but there’s ways we can combat this, take our attention back, and build a better future.