In his excellent book, Phantoms in the Brain, V.S. Ramachandran describes a case of Capgras Syndrome where a son could no longer recognize his parents in person, only on the phone.
His explanation (summarizing crudely here) was that the patient had suffered a head injury in a car accident and that the accident must have disrupted some kind of neural channel responsible for that warm fuzzy feeling you get when you recognize someone close to you like your parents. When the patient saw his parents, he expected that feeling but did not get it. As a result, he could only logically conclude that his parents were imposters.
What that story made me realize was the extent to which our beliefs, even our logic, is driven by subtle feelings we may not even be aware of. I have become much more attuned to those warm fuzzy feelings (I think that was actually the term Ramachandran used) in myself.
I know what you mean when you say rage drives your social media consumption, but in my case I wouldn't call it rage so much as self-righteousness. I don't rage too often and when I do I almost immediately feel embarrassed. But I find righteousness a much more seductive warm fuzzy feeling. Much of the media has optimized their business around it. (Ever wonder why some people get so worked up year after year about the War on Christmas?) Social media is very good at delivering my fix and keeping me coming back for more.
His explanation (summarizing crudely here) was that the patient had suffered a head injury in a car accident and that the accident must have disrupted some kind of neural channel responsible for that warm fuzzy feeling you get when you recognize someone close to you like your parents. When the patient saw his parents, he expected that feeling but did not get it. As a result, he could only logically conclude that his parents were imposters.
What that story made me realize was the extent to which our beliefs, even our logic, is driven by subtle feelings we may not even be aware of. I have become much more attuned to those warm fuzzy feelings (I think that was actually the term Ramachandran used) in myself.
I know what you mean when you say rage drives your social media consumption, but in my case I wouldn't call it rage so much as self-righteousness. I don't rage too often and when I do I almost immediately feel embarrassed. But I find righteousness a much more seductive warm fuzzy feeling. Much of the media has optimized their business around it. (Ever wonder why some people get so worked up year after year about the War on Christmas?) Social media is very good at delivering my fix and keeping me coming back for more.