In times of hardship, people seek out solace in what is familiar to them in the form of media, opinions and physical locations. While finding a literal safe space in a bedroom or office provides comfort and little harm, seeking only the opinions of those who agree with us is dangerous.
An echo chamber is “A situation in which people only hear opinions of one type, or opinions that are similar to their own,” according to the Cambridge Dictionary. In my experience, this can lead to more extreme viewpoints.
For example, a group may begin with benign opinions in its echo chamber. Let’s say the group starts by saying “we think cucumber is a bad vegetable because we don’t like how it tastes.” The people in the echo chamber all agree that cucumber is bad, but they never hear anyone talk about the good parts of cucumbers.
One day, someone in the chamber says, “no one should eat cucumber because it tastes bad.” This can eventually escalate to “all people who think cucumber tastes good or agree with people who think cucumber tastes good are bad people because cucumber tastes bad.” People within the echo chamber are unlikely to disagree for fear of alienation from others in the group they agree with.
Echo chambers normally don’t repeat back things nearly as benign as “cucumber tastes bad.” I have watched friends in right-wing and left-wing circles repeat condemnations of people based on rumors and claims from people in their echo chambers.
Serious condemnations about a person’s values should not be made without clear evidence that the person believes what they are being accused of believing.
If I can find clear evidence from the person themselves that they believe something I find unforgivable, I will voice my disagreement with them. If I can’t find evidence or I can only find evidence from an echo chamber, I will not voice my disagreement with the person until they have said or done something I disagree with.
In times like these, when almost everyone has been impacted by an emergency, it is more important than ever to step out of our echo chambers. We need to come together to protect ourselves and each other, but we cannot do that unless we establish a baseline trust in finding truth with the experts in each situation, not within our own echo chambers.
The truth cannot be found in opinions or echo chambers. I do not want anyone to take my words for granted. I want readers to be skeptical, to follow up on things they think sound wrong in both news and opinion pieces. Seeking out differing opinions and ensuring our information comes from trustworthy sources are the only ways we can combat misinformation.
At least, that’s what I believe. What about you?
Lex Miller can be reached at [email protected]