All topics / social media
Topic
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Social media
7
episodes
6
thinkers
17h
of conversation
25
books & papers
14
terms defined
The neighbourhood: social media and the ideas it travels with. Drag to roam, click a star for the episode, click a neighbour to travel.
Drag to roam · scroll to zoom · click a neighbour to travel · click a star for the episode
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The lexicon
Every term the guests lean on, in plain language. Read one in full, or filter to find it.
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What the corpus says
The throughline across every conversation that touches this idea.
Sam Harris argues that empathy often misguides ethical decisions, favoring relatable stories over larger issues like genocide.
Harris believes Trump's presidency exposed the fragility of democracy, as norms were violated rather than laws.
Harris deleted his Twitter account, claiming it improved his mental health by reducing exposure to negative interactions.
The rise of misinformation during the pandemic has eroded trust in institutions and fueled conspiracy theories.
Harris warns that audience capture skews public discourse, particularly on topics like COVID and wokeness.
Teen mental health issues spiked around 2010-2013, with preteen girls' suicide rates doubling by 2015.
Jonathan Haidt · Jonathan Haidt: The Case Against Social Media
Social media's business model, driven by virality mechanisms like the 'like' button, exacerbates mental health issues.
Jonathan Haidt · Jonathan Haidt: The Case Against Social Media
Correlational studies show a link between social media use and mental health issues, with significant effects on young girls.
Jonathan Haidt · Jonathan Haidt: The Case Against Social Media
Social media platforms amplify division, shifting societal focus from cooperation to conflict.
Jonathan Haidt · Jonathan Haidt: The Case Against Social Media
User authentication on social media could reduce bots and trolls, improving discourse quality.
Jonathan Haidt · Jonathan Haidt: The Case Against Social Media
Peter Wang argues that Python's expressiveness and productivity make it superior to Perl and Bash for scripting utilities.
Excel is the most popular programming system due to its immediate-mode capabilities, making it accessible to a broad audience.
Voices on social media
12 standout quotes from across the corpus.
Go read
25 books and papers cited across these episodes.
For the specialist
What experts find new
19 expert-level takeaways for a specialist reader.
At the frontier
Still unresolved
10 open questions flagged across these conversations.
The thinkers
Who takes this idea on, by how often they return to it.
