Regression.

Veritasium is an often mind blowing science YouTube channel. As a professional YouTuber he looked at it systemically. It has constantly adjusting algorithms to foster its own success. YouTubers then adapt their input to foster their success while the audience clicks on whatever they want from the pre-chosen infinitesimally small tip of its iceberg. These three entities mill around chasing each other’s tail. The result is regression. Apparently to be successful depends on a catchy title and an equally eye catching still with a video devoted to provide endorphins. But it’s still incredibly useful it you search for what you want, like replacing the heater fan resistor pack on a Renault Scenic Mk2, but that requires you to know what you want and have sufficient skills to do the repair. This divides the latter from those who’re simply grazing eye candy, which I suspect is the majority. It then just becomes a lengthier version of FaceBook or Twitter. So the regression built into all these platforms invisibly slips into the minds of their users. This regression does two things. It reduces knowledge to mean, “knowing what I like”, and hardens views to one site or the other. One begins to see the truth as more and more obvious and anything other as, well fake news. Everyone knows that tossing a coin enough times gives a 50/50 result so it’s highly likely the reason why every election these days is ~50/50. Regression has reduced millions of voters to be as predictable as a coin toss, heads or tails, 50% totally committed to one side and the other 50% to the other with a rising amount of animosity between the two. And each believing they’re ‘well informed’ and the other aren’t. Trump and Brexit are obvious examples. Trump was obviously a narcissistic psychopath well before he was elected and Brexit has always been a bad idea for the majority of UK citizens as we’re about to find out. Regression as provoked by YouTube, social media and traditional media has been rising up through society until those most easily swayed are the majority. And that’s why we invented sight, so the blind wouldn’t lead the blind.