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I've thought a lot about the ideas Sunstein explores over the years, and basically agree that the Internet tends to generate echo chambers. It enables people of like minds to get together and rant and commiserate- and naturally we like to do that. The commons- which in my deformative years were the 3 TV networks and newspapers that tried to at least couch their positions in logically defensible terms- represented a baseline that has since been replaced by whatever sources we consumer/kings want. We no longer have to even hear, much less consider, any views that do not echo our own.
I've examined my own views and the means by which I form and present them in light of the above, and agree with many who have posted here already that despite the above there is a substantial difference between my views and those of the fascist Right- and the heart of that difference lies in the way that I hold them. I don't believe in "fair and balanced"- I believe in objective truth, and in the idea that any views that I have- even and especially the emotional ones- must also be factually and logically defensible; that they are true in the real world not because I have them or want the world to be that way, but because they stand on their own. The neo-cons do not believe in this kind of truth. Taking their cues from society at large, where belief in the sanctity of the Almighty Self's Feelings trumps everything- they believe truth is whatever they want it to be, thus requires no factual basis or rational defense. I can tell you not only what I think/feel, but why- in rational terms and with information from reliable sources. In years of trying I have NEVER been able to get a neo-con to even state, much less defend their own positions in anything but emotional terms. They only seem capable of saying I am simply wrong, not patriotic, that I'm going to hell etc. And interestingly enough- never to my face. I write letters to the editor where I live, and I know they are literally the talk of the town because I hear about it. The last one was made an assignment in a local high school civics class. But no-one has ever engaged me in a conversation about them. Ever.
And in light of what I have just said, why would they? They can simply gossip, then go online, click up the latest hateful nugget (Hating Mexicans seems to be the topic du jour now), then the Forward and Reply All buttons. It'd all be fun and games- but people vote on this basis.
In short then- the Internet dumbs us down only to the degree we are willing to be dumb. The stupidity that used to hide itself in silence now struts proudly in cyberspace with no fear of embarrasment or rebuttal.
