"bean soup theory," whataboutisms, & the death of nuance | Internet Analysis

Empathy has also been declining and a great way to recognize nuance is to be able to see an issue from another's perspective and understanding that their point of view is as influenced by their life experience as ours is.

I agree it's absolutely rooted in the literacy crisis but I also blame the algorithms giving everyone such a curated feed that they assume that everything is meant for them and their specific life experience. This is a really great discussion, I think you put it all across very well.

It seems like a lack of empathy is a part of the problem. Just a part of this nuanced problem, not the whole reason.

I was an English major in college and it really reminds me of something I noticed and then we actually learned about when it comes to critique. I think a lot of people think the only way to be smart is to be smarter than. In classroom discussions and papers, students are constantly trying to find the thing the author missed, didn’t address, was wrong about. My junior year, we had a lesson and subsequent assignment where the professor basically said, you as a student coming across this work for the first time are probably not going to understand it better than someone who has perhaps spent a career immersing themselves in this subject. So instead of trying to prove them wrong, try a “yes and.” Yes, this thing you said is true. AND here’s this other thing to consider. Nuance people! For so many it was a revelation that this is a legitimate way to engage in scholarly discussion. And this was Princeton 😅

I haven't watched it through but I'm ready to misunderstand EVERYTHING you say in this video 🤩let's do this!

I find it crazy when a news profile or a person in Ukraine posts a video of the war and bombing there and people leave comments like: Ok but what about Palestine?! That’s legit scary to me.

I;m thinkin bout thos Beans

"people be saying things so definitively. like man i think it depends" is evergreen

The internet is designed to be inflammatory for engagement to increase engagement with ads.

YAYYYY we're back! let's dig into nuance, black and white thinking, BEAN SOUP THEORY... and why we cannot seem to understand each other, especially online.

the clip of the girl saying “would u rather be at the club or library” and going “ok but whats the context???” IS SO REALLLL

Fringe theory: it's not a literacy crisis. People just go to social media exhausted. They don't go there to find themselfes, but to turn their brains off a bit. That's why they interact with bait and respond in kind. We are all stupid sometimes, and there is not a lot to do when your are tired, so people default to engage mindlessly. Random people in real life are mostly okay. So it can't be that everyone is suddenly very stupid

I think it’s time for us as a collective to go outside and touch grass. I have been on the internet for 20 years now and I won’t put this on younger people or tiktok. This has been brewing for a long time. I sincerely believe that “online discourse” doesn’t lead anywhere most of the time. You can keep it simple or add nuance of whatever, but the reality is that you are arguing with someone who just wants to win rather than take tangible steps anywhere. I’m over seeing people basically playing out a trolly problem on tt while the trolly is about to crush bystanders. Nuance is still out there, it just not present on the internet. Go outside and talk to people face to face, it’s easier to demonise someone behind a screen.

Gotta wonder how many of those comments are made by bots just to drive engagement.

thank you tiffany for talking about how wanting nuance doesn’t necessarily always make you a centrist. i’m a leftist and i LOVE nuance because i know i NEED to understand why i believe in what i believe. for example, i want to understand all perspectives when it comes to reproductive rights so that i know how to frame my arguments for supporting comprehensive reproductive rights for all. understanding the nuance in everything makes you a better, more empathetic leftist!

Also we need to get better at remembering that most people think and speak in “drafts” and make space for people to be not completely at their final understanding yet. I feel like we want our takes 1) instantly 2) perfectly formed and 3) well articulated/fun and … on a good day you get two of those.

"Morally grey" is a term I would like to see disappear. There are no moral absolutes. Morality is personal, situational, societal. What feels "right" or "wrong" in one area will be different in another. To me, the term implies a reality that just doesn't exist.

"Shouldn't have kids" is not the same thing as "Shouldn't be allowed to have kids" (you said the latter when speaking about the former). Consider, "someone shouldn't cheat" isn't the same as saying "it is morally correct to make cheating illegal in any and all situations, to the point that we will limit your rights." The affirmative statement is, "You should only have kids you can adequately care for" which some rich people will absolutely fail and almost all people agree with (the alternative is, "Even if you can't care for your kids, you should have them"). Nuance indeed.

To add to the ✨nuance✨ — I wonder if folks sometimes use the term “media literacy crisis” too broadly. It implies that some of these issues are issues of folks not being taught critical thinking skills. But sometimes people have been taught those skills but choose not to use them — because they’re tired, because the subject is emotionally touchy for them, because they’re choosing not to empathize with the speaker, because they don’t think anyone will see/care about their comments if they don’t say something LOUD and they want to be heard… I dislike the idea of including all of those multifaceted factors into “media literacy.”

I’m 24 and I quickly picked up on how many people around my age don’t even know about nuance unless it serves to them. The amount of people I meet who clearly were raised to always have mommy and daddy clean up theirs messes are ALWAYS the first people in the room to “not understand” something. It’s because they lived a whole life on “what I want , I get it” and those parents didn’t make them critically think for ANYTHING. Some stuff I understood by the age of like 15 and now there’s 26 year olds talking about “well no one told me.” 😐😐😐. But as soon as they do something trifling they can immediately hit you with the “well you’re not seeing it from MY side. Like oh brother 😕