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A Fast-Paced World of Slow Minds

Writer's picture: Christopher McHaleChristopher McHale

The Impact of Social Media on Democracy and Human Behavior


It’s 4am. The nadir of the night. A community is awake. Phone in hand, surfing, reacting, commenting. A community of single minds fused into a typhoon of instant opinion. This is the dark engine of social media.


If we use social media to debate the daily events, we lose. That’s the obvious conclusion I make as I watch the tides of reactions surge across the social media lanes. Social media revolutionized how we communicate, but the cost is high. The instantaneity of X and Facebook rewards impulsive. Deliberation is attacked. Nuance is a task for fools. But the truth is humans are not equipped to process complex issues at the speed of a scrolling feed.


Our history as a species is one of unthinking reaction and then regret. Let’s burn the witches first and think later.  Cancel culture is a mob with a noose and a frothy determination. Act without thought, then head to the confession box to reflect and repent. Social media accelerates this cycle, turning historical patterns into daily occurrences. What we see on social media is some of worst facets of our essential human character boosted by a cold-fusion of lies and gossip.


Democracy Pirates


The demise of American democracy keeps step, milestone by milestone, with the growth of social media. As social media platforms rise to prominence, democratic norms erode. The Arab Spring demonstrated the promise of these platforms as tools for liberation, but the same tools have since been weaponized to spread misinformation, sow division, and undermine trust in democratic institutions. It’s willful, a tool of oligarchs, and a mission of a One World Corporation where Human Rights are replaced by Human Resources. It’s happening at the accelerated pace of our digital domain. It’s impossible to stop digitally. The platforms were built to liberate oligarchs not democracies. They serve the bunker brain of billionaires—move fast, break things, go hide in a luxurious hole in the ground


Consider the 2016 U.S. presidential election: concurrent synchronization between targeted misinformation campaigns and algorithm-driven echo chambers manipulated public opinion. Similarly, during the COVID-19 pandemic, social media played a dual role, both disseminating vital health information and amplifying dangerous conspiracy theories. Examinations of data shows a powerful manipulation of the 2024 election to control the outcome and deliver a fully oligarch-controlled President.


Who would do such a thing? It takes money. Where did all this money come from and for what purpose? What does it mean when the most powerful human propaganda tool in human history is controlled by the richest men?


Human Brain vs. Algorithm


Humans don’t think as fast as algorithms operate. Super-powered thinking is unnatural and produces results with the scent of fried electric circuits. Grab a 600 volt feed and you die quick. Social media is like that. Handle with extreme caution. Social media is a battleground where our slower, reflective minds are pitted against hyper-efficient systems designed to exploit emotional triggers. The result? Unthinking reactions dominate, leaving reason and dialogue as collateral damage.


The platforms themselves exacerbate the problem, but the problem is the goal. Dissension promotes engagement and engagement mean money. Nobody engages with a daisy field, but a battlefield is money in the bank.  Algorithms prioritize engagement over truth, amplifying divisive content because it generates clicks, likes, and shares. This creates feedback loops of outrage, where opposing viewpoints become not just disagreements but existential threats.


Clever, ruthless power-wranglers like super-oligarch Elon Musk understand this well. He grabbed his own, wholly controlled digital disorder box to control the body politic and secure an unregulated highway to untold wealth.


Reaction and Regret


“Regret is insight that comes a day too late,” Mark Twain once wrote. Social media turned this truism into a global phenomenon. Instant reactions—tweets, posts, and comments—are often regretted as context emerges. Yet, the damage is done. Careers, reputations, and even lives are destroyed in the time it takes to write 280 characters.


Humans struggle with rapid, emotional reactions. From the knee-jerk fear that fuels Trumpism to the panic-driven decisions of the financial crises, humanity often errs when thinking is replaced by reacting. Social media fuels this human operating system bug with a daily digital steroid infusion. The Hollywood Hills burn. Social media ignites with an avalanche of addled-brained opinionated poison.


Social Media Potential


“Technology is neither good nor bad; nor is it neutral,” observed historian Melvin Kranzberg. I think that gets it. As a writer it’s thrilling to have my own digital voice. Everyone needs to be heard. Technology has opened many new and exciting pathways. But at the same time social media has toxicfied public discourse. It’s become a weapon in the hands of two-bit grifters. It’s a Bible salesman with the devil’s tail poking out of the ass of a baggy suit. It’s an easy promise made and forgotten in a million-posts-a-second world.


Social media has amplified marginalized voices, brought awareness to global issues, and connected people in unprecedented ways. That’s the good bit. But it’s a two-sided coin rusting in a sidewalk drain.


During the Black Lives Matter protests, platforms synchronized global solidarity. The brutal murder of George Floyd was captured by a phone and posted, causing an instant explosion of social outrage. At the same time, a woman was recorded in a park threatening to call police. Her life was cancelled. But the truth of that situation was squashed by the heavy hand of cancel culture outrage. Social media can be a tool for positive change, yes, but it can also be like handing a nuclear bomb to a toddler.


Restoring Democracy


Democracy thrives on deliberation—careful, measured decision-making that values dialogue over division. The work of government is boring, tedious, methodical. It is no place for socially-enabled media mouths. And yet, social media has given voice to a generation of political performance artists who have turned social media negativity into a personal cash cow. It’s become a playground for the quick teeth of a gnarly crowd of disingenuous disinformation jockeys. Social media, in its current form, undermines the political process by privileging speed over depth. Elected officials flock to the social channels to put points on the board like our lives and liberty are part of a video game.


To reclaim a healthier public square, we must shift our approach.


  • As individuals: We must slow down. Think critically before reacting. Engage in discussions, not arguments.

  • As platforms: Companies must prioritize ethical algorithms that promote meaningful engagement over emotional exploitation.

  • As a society: Education must focus on digital literacy, teaching future generations to navigate the online world with discernment.


Unfortunately, those goals do not serve the oligarchy. Free speech absolutism is chaos, a plan to create the world‘s first trillionaire.


Long-Term Consequence


If left unchecked, the trajectory of social media will destroy democratic institutions. Capitalism does not have the tools to respond to the climate crisis. Capitalism does not the tools to respond to threats of social media either. We need regulations and responsibility. Disinformation kills. The oligarchy has set us up for a mass extinction event. The next plague will find a field of lies for its viral feast. The unvaccinated will proudly tumble over a cliff.


My most darkest place can see this as wholly premeditated. However, I also see a strong strain of detachment from reality in the ranks of the elite. They believe they can control the future and bend reality to their will. We seen the delusion again and again. How many kings were shocked when the executioners axe chopped off their heads? The oligarch bubble is filled with modern day Canutes seduced by tidal conceits.


We risk losing not only our capacity for civil discourse but also the very foundations of governance itself, so this is a call to wake up. Don’t be a frog in slowly boiling pot. I’m a proud member of the Woke. I work to build a foundation of truth from education and experience. But perhaps most importantly, I study the immutable principles and ethics that have guided the best of us for millennia. They remain unchanged but inconvenient to the oligarch mission. No amount of digital spin will touch them and they herald the ultimate failure of an oligarchy of lies. By recognizing the trade-offs between speed and thoughtfulness, by keeping our compass set set to the timeless wisdom of the ancients. we can begin to reclaim a more human-centered approach to communication.


Mindful Communication


“To speak is to sow; to listen is to reap,” Turkish writer Mehmet Murat Ildan said. In a world dominated by social media, we must remember the value of listening—of slowing down and allowing time for thought.


By fostering slower, more reflective forms of communication, we can counterbalance the effects of social media and rebuild the foundations of democracy. After all, the survival of democratic values depends not on algorithms but on the human capacity to deliberate, connect, and understand.


It begins in that 4am community. Your reaction when you first expose your dreamy consciousness to the harsh light of a digital screen is a good indicator of your mental and emotional well-being.


The eightfold fence is a Japanese concept of keeping an impenetrable wall within one’s self, a safe place at the back of the mind where people can retain their individuality and control even in the darkest of times. It’s a good practice to apply to your social media-ing.


I engage on social media. It’s has the quality of duty to stand in front of the braying herd and present truth and common sense, but I’ve trained myself to stay detached. Observing the mass-hysteria, the martial arts of full-contact assumptions and outright lies is a little mind-boggling. And it can be disheartening to watch dishonest leaders manipulate the masses with the religion and tribalism of social media platforms.


We are so weak these days. Leadership is the weakest I’ve ever seen. Long gone are oligarchs who build universities and concert halls. But that doesn’t change truth. Natural law is eternal. Denial always leads to a box canyon, and people see their fate on a clear day. The problems we currently face can only be solved by global agreement and social media has a role to play. We need to break the grip of the oligarch on our lines of communication and find a true voice of the people.


 

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I'm leaving footprints here, hints, experience and the price paid for it. It's my site, my opinions and I hope you don't necessarily agree with them because then I'll know we lived on the same merry-go-round, reaching for the same damn brass ring, reaching for it, getting it, then dropping it, and getting back on our carousel horse to try again.

I'm a poet, writer, song writer, producer and human.

I believe manners matter, love is all, health is wealth, mistakes define you, and amends make you.

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