Thoughts on "How the internet drove down regard for actual facts — and education", an article by Philip Bump, Jan 4, 2026
January 6, 2026
My father recently sent me an op-ed published on MS Now (formerly MSNBC) by Philip Bump titled “How the internet drove down regard for actual facts — and education”.
Mr. Bump offers a compelling analysis in his opinion piece. I mostly agree; “the Internet” (and more specifically, the algorithmically-driven echo chambers referred to as “social media”) have been significant contributors to the current sociopolitical situation. It’s too easy to just blame them, though – I think they’re enablers and amplifiers of our current culture’s worst tendencies, which would be present regardless of the predominance of social media. The real question at hand is what do we do about it?
Those in power (not necessarily the same as those in elected office, but often overlapping) have a vested interest in the continuation of the status quo; the rise of AI technologies seems likely to reinforce the power of the technologies that have got us where we are. Continued polarization of politics and culture won’t help the situation. As noted in Bump’s article, we’ve split into factions that embrace very different views of the world.The mechanisms for this split are well documented; see e.g. Morgan Kelly, ‘Political polarization and its echo chambers: Surprising new, cross-disciplinary perspectives from Princeton’, 2021, Shaun King, ‘How Did Political Polarization Begin, and Where Does it End?’, 2023, and many others. My take on it is that the far right, and perhaps also the far left, seem to believe that people are inherently bad; that the world is dominated by shadowy figures operating illicitly and extra-legally, backed by vast fortunes and with generally ill- and self-dealing intent. Perhaps a self-fulfilling view, at least for those elected by the MAGA crowd? Each group has its own idea of how to address the failures they perceive. But in common, these groups are wary or dismissive of facts not aligned with their world-view or belief system. They are disinclined to revise their beliefs in the face of contrary evidence, and more willing to make up and embrace their own truths, on faith – and of course, there’s no arguing against faith.
The broader and larger cultural middle (which, I think, is no longer obviously classifiable as “Republican” or “Democrat”) still holds that society should be fact- and law-based, and that people are for the most part trying to do good by themselves and others. But our two-party system drives the parties towards the extremes, even when the majority of the voting population is closer to the center, leaving no room for compromise. And so we’re stuck, absent some substantial change.This interesting study indicates that particular social attitudes can result in either stable or unstable conditions, thus affording possible avenues for intervention to prevent (or cause) instability: Axelrod R, Daymude JJ, Forrest S. Preventing extreme polarization of political attitudes. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2021 Dec 14;118(50):e2102139118. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2102139118. PMID: 34876506; PMCID: PMC8685667.
While I dearly hope that the MAGA base will consume itself in the fires of the Epstein files and Venezuela and the Trump kleptocracy’s abject incompetence, I don’t think that would solve the broader problems… The Democratic party needs to get its collective head out of its butt and return to its origins as the party of the working people, with a strong message and plan for how to address the needs of the lower- and middle-class working world, which has flocked to Trumpism despite being trodden upon by the very administration they support so strongly.The recent Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade is a perfect example of this polarization; a 6-3 conservative majority has imposed its will on the entire country, despite the fact that a majority of Americans support abortion rights. This kind of judicial activism only deepens the divide and erodes trust in institutions. Gavin Newsom can’t be the next presidential candidate put forth by the Democrats; he’ll lose the popular vote to Vance. Who will it be, then, and who is coming up with the Democratic strategy that might displace the Trumpies (and bring the disaffected working class back to the Democrats?) If anyone’s working on it, they’re not talking about it in an effective way, and I’m concerned.