Comic for Monday 7/18 (Early High Res)
Added 2022-07-17 17:46:25 +0000 UTCIt can feel like the world has gotten more dangerous over the last few generations, but more so I think due to technology we're now more aware of/bombarded with every little terrible thing that happens around the globe, which can amplify that sense of chaos and danger.
My wife and I both sometimes find ourselves comparing notes on headlines we've seen. "Did you see the one about the...?" even though hearing/reading about these things makes us heartsick and we hate imagining the reality of it, in a way it feels like vigilance. Accidents happen and you can't walk around in a constant state of fear, but I think on a basic level we imagine that if we can at least be aware of the things that could go wrong, we might be better prepared to protect against them.
Knowing how metric-driven most internet feeds are, I then wonder if we're just skewing our article results worse and worse. Are kids really drowning every time they're near water (nope), or is the algorithm just trying to find every drowning-related article to shove in my face (yup). It can look pretty dire if you aren't taking it all with a grain of salt.
This is just a parenting example, but we know it happens with everything; politics, conspiracy theories, etc. It's not hard to imagine why some people lose their grip when the world looks the way it does through one of these cultivated lenses.
Comments
the Internet and the availability heuristic are a killer combination.
ezazel
2022-08-05 18:00:35 +0000 UTCI force myself to more or less view my child like a cockroach over a fragile vase. I have trained them the best I can and they're more physically resilient then I am. If I think of something that I think they should know I try to teach that something to them and not fret. I'm not going to put my child into a bad situation if I can help. I'm not going to let the unknown turn me into an anxiety mess either.
Stephen Shook
2022-07-18 17:02:50 +0000 UTC
