[chiefalchemist]

1) Don't pick a side. Don't join a party.

2) Along the same lines, refuse to buy into the narrative that *everything* is binary. It's not. It makes for great theatre - and media profits - that every issue is binary. Unfortunately, that narrative is a lie.

3) You're not going to like this one but...Don't vote. Doing so creates a bias. It's difficult to remain evenly balanced, voting will add a bias and upset any attempt at balance.

[lusus_naturae]

> Don't vote

Disagree with don't vote. If reasonable don't vote, then only extremes are voting, creating an even more polarized society/community. I say vote for anyone if they make sense to you, regardless of party affiliation.

[chiefalchemist]

The criteria wasn't "reasonable". It's apolitical.

Psychologically, making a choice creates a bias. A bias that makes people less likely to change their position, change their mind, etc. Sound familiar?

I'm not necessarily suggesting voting in and of itself is bad. I am directly saying that voting without realizing you've unwillingly opted in to a bias can be dangerous and create problems. Again, sound familiar?

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/invisible-influences-how-choi...

[lusus_naturae]

A bias may preclude someone from considering a different perspective, but I am not sure all biases are inherently damaging to society.

[chiefalchemist]

I didn't say that either. I'm not judging the bias. I'm simply pointing out

- biases are real;

- that 99% of most people are oblivious to that fact;

- that 99% of elites / leadership make make no effort to educate the masses on how biases - in this case specifically the act of voting - impacts discourse;

- that how such a bias decreases compromise (i.e., people won't change their minds) and therefore increases divisiveness;

- that biases are an unavoidable human given which means the addressable problem is the ignorance of such things.

- Conclusion: Individual biases *are* going to have broader societal impact. Ignorance - especially when it's used to manipulate behaviour -is never good for society.

Those are the facts. If you have counter facts, please share. If there's something else outside these facts I welcome the opportunity to move beyond my biases.