Conversations with some of my students around perspective, bias, and opinion have made me wonder how I need to change what and how I’m teaching this.
Here’s what I’m thinking: blogs are increasingly becoming sources of commentary and even news. Blogs typically don’t even try to remain non-partisan or objective, since opinion is arguably an important feature of a good blog post.
I imagine that I am a fairly typical reader when I subscribe to blogs that I like to read. Those are usually the ones that make me cheer or nod in agreement. I tend to subscribe to blogs whose authors seem to reinforce or support my own ideas. I don’t subscribe to blogs where the authors’ viewpoints are obviously different from my own.
I am self-selecting my own commentary, and to some degree news that is biased the way that I like it.
I just wonder where this might lead us. Will we all increasingly be exposed more and more to opinions and ideas that we like, and be able to tune out those that we don’t? And what might this do for real-life interaction and community, where our neighbours have very different ideas than we do?
And if this is the possible future, what should I as an educator be doing? Helping students to articulate their ideas and opinions so that they can find others who share the same? Encouraging students to learn how to find opposing viewpoints in the name of diversity and expanded horizons?
No answers right now. Just questions.
