Yes, Mr. Slacker, I'm totally with you, sir!
We're in the attention economy so the incentive for media companies is to get our attention and HOLD ON TO IT! Americans are largely watchers so what's telegenic will make it on to the news, and if it's really captivating, it will be played endlessly. And video is deceiving as you don't know what went on prior to what is being viewed, nor do you know what transpired after it finished. There's often no context, and lets' face it, two people can watch the same thing and perceive things differently. Throw in deep fakes, and we're in the deepest of excrement!
As to our innumeracy, oh boy, what a problem! We hear a lot about illiteracy but the lack of any basic number sense is also profound. Americans just haven't been adequately schooled in statistics, probability, and basic math. I'll wager most Americans cannot explain the difference between a billion and a trillion, or the deficit and the debt.
There is no shared narrative, so we've arrived at what's been called an epistemological breakdown. And that is a frightening place to be.
Peter T.
