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Analysis Of How Facebook Makes Us Dumber By Leonard Pitts

501 Words3 Pages

Truth or Tale
The two articles “How Facebook Makes Us Dumber” and “When ears don’t hear, truth is futile” though different, both make a very similar argument. Each illustrate that people refuse to hear the truth, and instead trust the lies.
The article, “When ears don’t hear, truth is futile” by Leonard Pitts, expresses that people will only listen to the information that appeases their already formed ideas. In this particular case, Pitts uses the connection between blacks and crime. In this text, the author repeatedly states that no matter what you say or how you support the information people will only hear what they want to hear. Even if you tell them the truth.
Similarly In the article “How Facebook Makes Us Dumber,” the author, Cass R. Sunstein, argues people are becoming quickly one sided and biased; however, he links this downward spiral to social media websites, such as Facebook. Sunstein says it is proven that “Facebook users tended to choose and share stories containing messages they accept, and to neglect those they reject.” This in turn, promotes lies or one sided ideas. …show more content…

Pitts suggests the reason for people's bias is because of our simple refusal to be wrong. He claims our bias is “the state of critical thinking these days: Ignore any inconvenient truth, any unsettling information that might force you to think or even look with new eyes upon, say, the edifice of justice. Accept only those ‘facts’ that support what you already believe.” Then, because our approach to critical thinking is shaped this way, Pitts believes that “when people are determined to believe a lie, there is nothing more futile than the

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