TheInternet, Debate, and Democracy
Nameof Student
TheInternet, Debate, and Democracy
Questions
In his interview, Cass Sunstein argues that “extreme” positions are sometimes—but not always—bad. Explain the difference between unreasonable and reasonable “extremes.”
Asderived from the views and contributions of Cass Sunstein in theinterview, reasonable extreme is where individuals make suggestionsor bring out a sensible argument, and that have been developed out ofsound judgement. On the other hand, unreasonable extreme is whereindividuals develop an argument and actively support it, but it isless sensible and is drawn up with no clear analysis of facts. Mostunreasonable extremes are formed in politics to antagonise the viewsof another political party, or to oppose the opinion of others. Theunreasonable extremes are, in most times, established out ofself-interest and create controversies. A decent example ofunreasonable extreme from Sunstein`s interview is when he points outthat liberals are people who take their side in an argument and thatthey find it wrong to vote for a Republican president.
What did Sunstein`s experiment in Colorado demonstrate about political in-talk? How does that relate to the internet “filtering?”
Accordingto the experiment conducted by Sunstein, people who are surrounded bylike-minded individuals feel more endorsed and will, therefore,express a propensity of strengthening their opinions, views, andphilosophies. There is a greater chance for people who interact withlike-minded colleagues to modify their views. The same is, therefore,similar to internet filtering in that a web user will search the webfor views which are related to his or her thoughts for them to createa more sound opinion on a certain issue.