Thread by @BloodyStree, #TIL We often confuse between two things: "epistemic bubbles" & "echo chambers". [...]

#TIL
We often confuse between two things: "epistemic bubbles" & "echo chambers". We should know the disease before choosing the proper cure. By applying one treatment to another, we might actually cause more polarization.
I tried to explain these two in this thread.
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Epistemic bubbles are where people are completely shielded from opposite views. Outside voices are unheard.

Echo chambers are where we are exposed, but distrust any info coming from the opposite side. Outside voices are actively undermined here.

Let's look at the first.
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Examples of epistemic bubbles are social media algorithms as seen in FB or Google search feeds. Sometimes also caused by mainstream media such as TV channels & radios which selectively show news with a bias. WhatsApp is another example if your circle is full of just one side
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Remember, these people are not filled with hate, they just encounter opposing views very rarely or not at all. These bubbles can be burst by force feeding them with fact based info. Either creatively using vague headlines or interesting click baits, for example.
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This is easier to break given the reach of social media these days. Funding independent media is also important. So dont hesitate next time when you are posting a political Instagram story or WhatsApp status. You are helping someone stuck in such an epistemic bubble to come+
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+ out of it and have a conversation. And always keep it neutral, else you might risk pushing them into defensive.

Now echo chambers. These are the harder fight. Echo chambers, once formed, are not easy to break. Because the core feature of these chambers is distrust.
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This is the case where they know the opposing views and facts, but choose to ignore & distrust. This can actually be seen as a second phase after the epistemic bubble phase. When you are constantly fed one sided info for a long time, you will stick to it and refuse to +
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+ change it later on even after exposed, thus degrading into an echo chamber. Folks here are prepared to see contradicting evidence and are ready to discredit it right away. Forcing those slipping into echo chambers might actually backfire and push them even deeper into +
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+ their chamber and eventually make it a black hole. One possible escape route is self-realization. The individual has to undergo what is similar to a "reboot". They have to abandon all the belief systems they were fed & start afresh with all kinds of views on the table.
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This is not practical, as an individual needs a very strong reason to reboot themselves. But this story of a youngster, Derek Black, who grew up with a neo-Nazi father and was a neo-Nazi himself, felt inspiring to me. Read this.
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I agree that this again puts the burden on the oppressed and its not their job to reboot the oppressor. But it is imp. to try to apply this rule if possible, at least in the cases of those who are slowly slipping into echo chambers from epistemic bubbles, esp. youngsters.
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The only other way to break echo chambers is change in leadership, institutional reforms & large scale events that can shake their beliefs.
So, keep pushing into epistemic bubbles, but if you encounter an echo chamber, proceed with caution, coz you might make things worse
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Lastly, if you are interested, here is the source.
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/episteme/article/echo-chambers-and-epistemic-bubbles/5D4AC3A808C538E17C50A7C09EC706F0/share/0307d37f47e7589b9e62bae4f07398b2af676932

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ECHO CHAMBERS AND EPISTEMIC BUBBLES | Episteme | Cambridge Core

ECHO CHAMBERS AND EPISTEMIC BUBBLES - Volume 17 Issue 2

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/episteme/article/echo-chambers-and-epistemic-bubbles/5D4AC3A808C538E17C50A7C09EC706F0/share/0307d37f47e7589b9e62bae4f07398b2af676932

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