Re: Boomers and disinformation
I this post a few days ago and wanted to add some thoughts. The basic premise of the post is pretty simple and (in my opinion) uncontroversial:
Why are boomers so susceptible to disinformation? I have multiple people in my life that are above age of 60 and all of them are very easily influenced by algorithmic feeds mostly over at Meta platforms.
I think we've all observed this. We've all known an older person who has been captured by their phone. So what do we think is going on here? I also want to note that original bearblog post from slowburn was not an angry invective against boomers. I'm responding more generally, but not always directly to slowburn. I want to make this very clear since I get a bit heated and none of it is directed towards that author.
I have a few ideas:
Older people didn't grow up with "the algorithm"
All things being equal, older people were not tech natives, and there is really nothing in their lives that prepared them for the evil power of an algorithmic feed. Older people as a group are also just less able to adapt and learn new things. How many of them even know they're caught in a warped algorithmic feed? Perhaps every day for them is like being caught in the War of the Worlds radio drama? Every day, caught in a deception they can't perceive. Their emotions pulled in evil directions. Their old, reliable tools for detecting bullshit rendered useless.
There may be some dementia
Dementia doesn't just make you forget things. All the things your mind does start working worse. Controlling your emotions, and your impulses also gets worse. If algorithmic feeds most directly map to slot machines, then posts such as the reddit post below should be no surprise. This post on /r/BoomersBeingFools is incredibly depressing. Outside of the obvious fact that the old people in the video are completely captured by the addiction of the casino, the reaction from the commenters (and the tone of the post) is absolutely heartless. Those people were all young once. And what is our response to their weakness and senescence? Derision, mockery, inter-generational hatred. The old people in that video are pitiable for certain, but mocking them adds cruelty to an already cruel situation.
I think that seniors captured by social media need our help, not our mockery.
Loneliness and boredom
If you're retired and many of your friends have died, you may just be lonely and bored. This point is not very deep, but people with real obligations and connections to the real world don't quite as easily fall pretty to social media.
There is probably a small tribal component here.
It's quite easy to spot the disinformation in others; when their disinformation disagrees with your social perspective. Probably due to the other causes I mentioned, this is not purely a tribal issue. But at least some of the time, you're just spotting the "other group." Your group has its own false beliefs, and from the outside, they're equally obvious.
A call for compassion
If you're lucky, you'll be old one day. Whatever is plaguing old people today may plague you too. Imagine it: the world has changed so much you don't recognize anything. Your old, tired brain keeps getting surprised and confused by day-to-day life. You managed to scrape a life together for yourself, and now it's finally all falling apart. Your friends and family are mostly dead. You're wasting away into nothing. And the people around you? The same generation that preached mental health, compassion, and empathy? Well, they don't have much empathy for you. You're their enemy, and they're happy to see you go.
Hating the old, and setting up the world to be difficult for the old, is just harming your future self. Even if you never grew old, seniors need our help. Social media is a poison to society. We need to help our most vulnerable members break free of it.