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*This is the series event page - Link to the lecture event page below*Perth Philosophy Circle is back again to begin another Pub Philosophy lecture series!
The 2024 series is entitled Daring to Think for Oneself: Rabbit Holes, Echo Chambers, and Filter Bubbles.
Beginning 15th of April, and every third Monday of the month,
at Clancy's Fish Pub Fremantle.
Doors at 6pm - Register your interest by email at [email protected]
LINKS to the Lecture event page
Lecture One
https://fb.me/e/3iTC1pu0Z
Lecture Two
https://fb.me/e/4hL7MY593
Lecture Three
https://fb.me/e/7syfPEkji
Series description below
Daring to Think for Oneself: Rabbit Holes, Echo Chambers and Filter
Bubbles
“When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I
choose it to mean — neither more nor less.”
“The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.”
– Lewis Carol, Through the Looking Glass, Chapter 6.
As we have done in the previous series, we think it is important to draw attention to another aspect of the ‘crisis’ of meaning in our age. This year’s focus, then, is on ‘rabbit holes’, ‘echo-chambers’, or
‘filter bubbles.’ To start with the term rabbit hole – supposedly originating from Alice in Wonderland –, a rabbit hole describes the strange path a person can go down when they spend too much time ‘researching’ a subject via internet sites, finding themselves off the beaten path. And there’s no telling where they might end up. In contrast to this lost-in-the-rabbit-hole ‘researcher,’ an echo chamber refers to a group collectively expressing the same views back at themselves (made even easier online), thereby
reaffirming what they already think to begin with. The third term, filter bubbles, is interesting to contemplate, because it supposedly describes the way internet algorithms shape what we are shown
based on our previous searches, therefore locking us, ‘forever,’ in the same loop of information. We thereby become trapped ‘in a bubble,’ created and reinforced by algorithmic filters.
It might seem, from the above descriptions, that the problem with thinking for oneself in the world today is that we must navigate between these seemingly different, opposing threats. Either on the one hand, there is the threat of departing altogether from ‘common sense’ and ‘reasonable opinion,’ and falling into ‘conspiracy thinking’. Or, on the other hand, there is the threat of being stuck in an echo-chamber, or a bubble, only hearing what you already want to hear, from people you already agree with.
Yet, the question is if this ‘story’ is really so simple. Perhaps, reflecting on Immanuel Kant’s article “What is Enlightenment,” [Was ist Aufklärung], we can discuss the above story differently. Writing in 1784, Kant issues a summons to the general readership in the form of Sapere Aude! – dare to think for yourself or dare to be wise. What does his demand amount to? Kant’s call is a recognition of the importance of autonomy – auto | nomos, to give reason to oneself instead of relying on heteronomy, reasoning of others in authority. Yet we can only start thinking for ourselves if we discuss public matters with others.
But how are we to think for ourselves, if we are stuck in the rabbit holes or echo chambers, reinforced by algorithmic filter bubbles? According to Kant, the public use of reasoning means to be able to discuss matter of interest from different standpoints and not accept one way of looking at things. It is imperative for fostering the greater understanding of the common world. We all should use our
critical thinking, instead of accepting the views of authority uncritically.
As Kant asks of us in his article, we should use our own reasoning and specifically not abide by what one should think. Echo chambers only reinforce what one already believes, preventing us from thinking through presuppositions that we have inherited. In the ‘post-truth’ era, where the empirical scientific-method has shaped how we understand truth, arguments, facts, reasoning, etc., such that evidenced-based reasoning is the only way to understand what is real, what is there left to think about? And how can we think through these ideas without taking a negative or positive stance on them? When we say someone is in a rabbit hole, is this a negative claim that they no longer listen to reasons that others present? Does a rabbit hole lead only to echo chambers?
To reflect on these issues, in this series, we will present different points of view related to how we understand the meaning of reasoning today.
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Clancy's Fish Pub Fremantle, 80 Samson St, White Gum Valley WA 6162, Australia,Perth, Western Australia