The covid era broke so many minds I think we'll be studying the psychological and sociological effects of it long past we stop studying the physical health effects of it. I personally know of several people who came out of the covid era completely different people mentally.
I think the underlying culprit that we’ll talk about is algorithmic social media combined with increasingly addictive short form video formats. People were inside with nothing better to do and that technology became incredibly common and people came out of the pandemic hooked on rage bait because it’s engaging content so it gets pushed by algorithms that prioritize time spent on app
I hope we regulate social media algorithms in the future
It’s an addiction just like drugs or gambling. Those change personalities so much, so I believe this is similar.
I have no idea how you fix these people. I cut family off for being horrible MAGA/ q anon freaks and they are still that way.
My grandmother has dementia and it’s insane the difference in her if she watches Fox News vs turner classic movies. People are not prepared for the massive burden that is boomers aging with these addiction issues, poor health, and insane amount of scams and private equity in the disguise of healthcare taking all their money. It’s horrifying;
I’m at the vanguard.
I also think there is something to be said about cognitive decline and embracing right wing beliefs: there is a reason brain damaged people go to the far right: those beliefs are inherently irrational. IMO right wing belief shift should trigger mental health alarms.
100%. Isolated in homes certain people became easy prey for these digital manipulations. Especially if they'd been casual consumers of conservative media prior. I mean the MAGA in my family have been right wing for decades and their communities further enforce their political beliefs. But I'm sure there are plenty of others, especially young people, who were warped by targeted SM posts.
Adults with limited control over their lives were being told someone knows better than them and that broke their illusion of authority, so they started lashing out.
Now they know they aren't as in control as they thought and it's scary to them.
So, they run to those who would never ever do such a thing to them and just know and understand what bothers them /s
That further spiralled due to the affirmation they received via social media and like minded peers.
They need empowering in a healthy manner, otherwise they will keep being exploited by those who sell them the illusion they desire.
This stuff feels like science fiction, people's personalities changing so powerfully.
Honestly, if it does feel like science fiction, it feels specifically like the Body Snatchers. That kind of story has been a fairly consistent feature addressing concerns at a given moment in culture.
Whether the fear of communism in the 50s film or Flower Power in the 70s, or 9/11 and then even racism in Get Out.
I guess the main fear it addresses is that the people you know have changed while remaining outwardly the same, and what they've changed into is something you don't understand and is possibly even a threat to you. And that you too might change.
So it feels like every generation gets its' Body Snatchers story and I guess this one here is our own.
The people in those stories are often referred to as Pod People, for the space in which they undergo the change, where they are infected by something that then changes them
The pods now are the curated feeds giving people the content that changes them.
If you've seen the show "Plur1bus" it deals with this. There's nothing overtly graphic in the first episode but I still couldn't deal with it. Too resonant to what's going on today.
I’ve read before about how popular horror movie themes tend to reflect the fears of the times, but your comment is making me want to read more about this specific theme—people you know being hollowed out and replaced by something else—has played out over time.
Yeah, I'm sure given the consistency of that fear, there were instances of it in stories before the 50s. But the 50s with the Communist Red Scare is the earliest I can think. The paranoia of not knowing the intentions of people who present themselves as just like you being Communists or whatever other sort of 'enemy'.
I think if there's anything specific about the Body Snatcher theory I'm proposing, it's that the paranoia is a less a case here given how loudly and outwardly these people in this example here present themselves.
That paranoia is a consistent feature in Body Snatcher stories.
But there's also the question of an identity being hijacked and the question of autonomy and what is influencing or dictating the choices someone makes.
It's the classic cocktail of Fear of Loss, Us vs Them, and Scapegoating.
Why is your life so hard? Who are these strangers on our borders? They are bringing disease/taking your jobs/killing our white women!
Fear is the easiest button to push because it is so primal and ancient. It also generates the most engagement.
When you get older, I guess you feel more and more vulnerable, as your faculties fade, so Fear becomes this ever-present emotion, which makes you susceptible to these messages.
Sorry, I just wanted to mention another terrific example of a Body Snatchers story, the (unjustly cancelled) series Braindead. Yes, it's cancelled but it's still entirely worth a watch and doesn't feel incomplete. And again, like many Body Snatcher films and shows, it also plays on something in the zeitgeist in terms of changes in politics and extremes in political behaviours.
It's a really fun watch and I highly recommend it.
My father is like this and it has ruined our family. He can't stop talking about it. He's 76 and on hospice and it's all he talks about. You talk about Lord of the Rings and somehow it gets to something MAGA related. You talk about the weather, somehow it's MAGA related. Want to watch tv with him? Okay, let's watch The Five on Fox News. I'm a socialist, but I have the social skills to realize that not everyone wants to hear my opinions so I keep it to myself. My wife is the daughter of an immigrant and he'll go on and on about illegal immigration to the point where it really doesn't matter if they're legal or not. She's brown and he'll flat out say that racism doesn't exist and that white people are the ones who actually are victims of racism.
It's just exhausting. Other relatives like him, I just don't talk to anymore because we aren't that close to begin with so it's fine to just text them on holidays.
But he's my dad and I don't want the guilt of not being there in his last months so I tolerate it, but I'll never forgive these people for rotting their minds and souls.
>he'll flat out say that racism doesn't exist and that white people are the ones who actually are victims of racism
I never understood this. I’m poc and my white friends never had the experiences in school me and other minority kids did. Now all of a sudden we have a generation of white teenagers thinking they’re victims of racism. I think these people don’t really get what it’s like being a minority. For example I’m sure you’ve seen some white Americans who’ve moved to some European countries. A lot of them are liberal but you can tell they didn’t really think about how race and especially ethnicity works in most of the world. So their kids will face discrimination in Europe despite being white. Or even they get the feeling that after 5+ years of being in Europe they’re not fully accepted. The sense of otherness is not fun.
His father was a Klan member and so on and so on. So I don't expect him to be racially progressive, he's a soft bigot through his upbringing and the time. He'll say yes, there are people that are prejudiced, but it's not a big problem like it was when I was a kid. And it's like yeah, things have improved... but to deny systemic inequities that exist is just either outright stupidity or wilful denial of reality.
I wish the raft of recent articles would try and be a bit less both sides-y. They always treat it as if it's just a difference of opinion, but it's not. These people are being lured into a cult-like echo chamber which is completely detached from reality. The cost, socially and economically, of small boat migrants to the UK is vanishingly small, yet these people genuinely believe it's the most pressing issue facing us. This isn't just "oh granny's got a lot more racist lately" it's "granny now lives in an entirely parallel universe and refuses to accept reality". And it isn't just social media! Most traditional media in the UK and US is very right-wing and has only gotten more so over the last ten years. Honestly how Ofcom hasn't shut down GB news yet I have no idea.
I don’t like saying this out loud but I’m glad my parents died before the Maga movement came to power because they would’ve been perfectly poised to go over that edge
I was always baffled why seemingly intelligent, nice people start blaming immigrants, brown people, Muslims or drag queens for all their problems. It seems pretty self evident billionaires and corporations cause actual harm. But the Right are very very clever with arousing people's anger. The reptilian brain cannot think. It is deeply disturbing watching people sink into a pit of hatred against their fellow struggling man, while cheering on human scum like Trump and Farage.
Yeah. A lot of them started out with relatively reasonable skepticism of the kind of discourse that goes "trans women are women, no I will not be taking questions" but I can't even take them seriously anymore. I'm just gonna be on the side of trans people, right or wrong, at this point because the other side has radicalized so much.
I am so thankful that neither my parent or my in laws fell down the far right despite being the "perfect demographic". If anything they've gone more left.
I wish the article had acknowledged the fact that "right wing" is not the same thing now as it was 20, 30, 40 years ago. I think the main reason for people being more willing to break family contact over politics is the massive rightward shift of the Overton window. You could have a conservative friend in the 80s and 90s.
flatulentbaboon | 10 hours ago
The covid era broke so many minds I think we'll be studying the psychological and sociological effects of it long past we stop studying the physical health effects of it. I personally know of several people who came out of the covid era completely different people mentally.
awholedamngarden | 9 hours ago
I think the underlying culprit that we’ll talk about is algorithmic social media combined with increasingly addictive short form video formats. People were inside with nothing better to do and that technology became incredibly common and people came out of the pandemic hooked on rage bait because it’s engaging content so it gets pushed by algorithms that prioritize time spent on app
I hope we regulate social media algorithms in the future
UnexpectedWings | 5 hours ago
It’s an addiction just like drugs or gambling. Those change personalities so much, so I believe this is similar.
I have no idea how you fix these people. I cut family off for being horrible MAGA/ q anon freaks and they are still that way.
My grandmother has dementia and it’s insane the difference in her if she watches Fox News vs turner classic movies. People are not prepared for the massive burden that is boomers aging with these addiction issues, poor health, and insane amount of scams and private equity in the disguise of healthcare taking all their money. It’s horrifying; I’m at the vanguard.
I also think there is something to be said about cognitive decline and embracing right wing beliefs: there is a reason brain damaged people go to the far right: those beliefs are inherently irrational. IMO right wing belief shift should trigger mental health alarms.
Astralglamour | 5 hours ago
100%. Isolated in homes certain people became easy prey for these digital manipulations. Especially if they'd been casual consumers of conservative media prior. I mean the MAGA in my family have been right wing for decades and their communities further enforce their political beliefs. But I'm sure there are plenty of others, especially young people, who were warped by targeted SM posts.
ShapeShiftingCats | 8 hours ago
Adults with limited control over their lives were being told someone knows better than them and that broke their illusion of authority, so they started lashing out.
Now they know they aren't as in control as they thought and it's scary to them.
So, they run to those who would never ever do such a thing to them and just know and understand what bothers them /s
That further spiralled due to the affirmation they received via social media and like minded peers.
They need empowering in a healthy manner, otherwise they will keep being exploited by those who sell them the illusion they desire.
derpferd | 11 hours ago
This stuff feels like science fiction, people's personalities changing so powerfully.
Honestly, if it does feel like science fiction, it feels specifically like the Body Snatchers. That kind of story has been a fairly consistent feature addressing concerns at a given moment in culture.
Whether the fear of communism in the 50s film or Flower Power in the 70s, or 9/11 and then even racism in Get Out.
I guess the main fear it addresses is that the people you know have changed while remaining outwardly the same, and what they've changed into is something you don't understand and is possibly even a threat to you. And that you too might change.
So it feels like every generation gets its' Body Snatchers story and I guess this one here is our own.
The people in those stories are often referred to as Pod People, for the space in which they undergo the change, where they are infected by something that then changes them
The pods now are the curated feeds giving people the content that changes them.
The content is what infects them.
These are our Body Snatchers
Snoo52682 | 9 hours ago
If you've seen the show "Plur1bus" it deals with this. There's nothing overtly graphic in the first episode but I still couldn't deal with it. Too resonant to what's going on today.
derpferd | 8 hours ago
Yeah, I hear you. I've still got to finish it but yeah, I can see that
hellocousinlarry | 8 hours ago
I’ve read before about how popular horror movie themes tend to reflect the fears of the times, but your comment is making me want to read more about this specific theme—people you know being hollowed out and replaced by something else—has played out over time.
derpferd | 7 hours ago
Yeah, I'm sure given the consistency of that fear, there were instances of it in stories before the 50s. But the 50s with the Communist Red Scare is the earliest I can think. The paranoia of not knowing the intentions of people who present themselves as just like you being Communists or whatever other sort of 'enemy'.
I think if there's anything specific about the Body Snatcher theory I'm proposing, it's that the paranoia is a less a case here given how loudly and outwardly these people in this example here present themselves.
That paranoia is a consistent feature in Body Snatcher stories.
But there's also the question of an identity being hijacked and the question of autonomy and what is influencing or dictating the choices someone makes.
Sullyville | 5 hours ago
It's the classic cocktail of Fear of Loss, Us vs Them, and Scapegoating.
Why is your life so hard? Who are these strangers on our borders? They are bringing disease/taking your jobs/killing our white women!
Fear is the easiest button to push because it is so primal and ancient. It also generates the most engagement.
When you get older, I guess you feel more and more vulnerable, as your faculties fade, so Fear becomes this ever-present emotion, which makes you susceptible to these messages.
derpferd | 2 hours ago
Sorry, I just wanted to mention another terrific example of a Body Snatchers story, the (unjustly cancelled) series Braindead. Yes, it's cancelled but it's still entirely worth a watch and doesn't feel incomplete. And again, like many Body Snatcher films and shows, it also plays on something in the zeitgeist in terms of changes in politics and extremes in political behaviours.
It's a really fun watch and I highly recommend it.
Oh, and, obviously, John Carpenter's The Thing
Nervous_Insect5976 | 8 hours ago
My father is like this and it has ruined our family. He can't stop talking about it. He's 76 and on hospice and it's all he talks about. You talk about Lord of the Rings and somehow it gets to something MAGA related. You talk about the weather, somehow it's MAGA related. Want to watch tv with him? Okay, let's watch The Five on Fox News. I'm a socialist, but I have the social skills to realize that not everyone wants to hear my opinions so I keep it to myself. My wife is the daughter of an immigrant and he'll go on and on about illegal immigration to the point where it really doesn't matter if they're legal or not. She's brown and he'll flat out say that racism doesn't exist and that white people are the ones who actually are victims of racism.
It's just exhausting. Other relatives like him, I just don't talk to anymore because we aren't that close to begin with so it's fine to just text them on holidays.
But he's my dad and I don't want the guilt of not being there in his last months so I tolerate it, but I'll never forgive these people for rotting their minds and souls.
seiryuu-abi | 2 hours ago
>he'll flat out say that racism doesn't exist and that white people are the ones who actually are victims of racism
I never understood this. I’m poc and my white friends never had the experiences in school me and other minority kids did. Now all of a sudden we have a generation of white teenagers thinking they’re victims of racism. I think these people don’t really get what it’s like being a minority. For example I’m sure you’ve seen some white Americans who’ve moved to some European countries. A lot of them are liberal but you can tell they didn’t really think about how race and especially ethnicity works in most of the world. So their kids will face discrimination in Europe despite being white. Or even they get the feeling that after 5+ years of being in Europe they’re not fully accepted. The sense of otherness is not fun.
Nervous_Insect5976 | an hour ago
His father was a Klan member and so on and so on. So I don't expect him to be racially progressive, he's a soft bigot through his upbringing and the time. He'll say yes, there are people that are prejudiced, but it's not a big problem like it was when I was a kid. And it's like yeah, things have improved... but to deny systemic inequities that exist is just either outright stupidity or wilful denial of reality.
Ghosts_and_Empties | 10 hours ago
And who is controlling the messaging? Enemies of democracy and civil society..
Byeah207 | 9 hours ago
I wish the raft of recent articles would try and be a bit less both sides-y. They always treat it as if it's just a difference of opinion, but it's not. These people are being lured into a cult-like echo chamber which is completely detached from reality. The cost, socially and economically, of small boat migrants to the UK is vanishingly small, yet these people genuinely believe it's the most pressing issue facing us. This isn't just "oh granny's got a lot more racist lately" it's "granny now lives in an entirely parallel universe and refuses to accept reality". And it isn't just social media! Most traditional media in the UK and US is very right-wing and has only gotten more so over the last ten years. Honestly how Ofcom hasn't shut down GB news yet I have no idea.
ShapeShiftingCats | 8 hours ago
>I wish the raft of recent articles would try and be a bit less both sides-y.
Not sure whether you have seen it, but the article was posted across UK subs and certain types of people thought it wasn't both sides-y enough.
It's honestly pointless as they wouldn't agree to any balance unless it favours their opinion.
palbuddymac | 7 hours ago
I don’t like saying this out loud but I’m glad my parents died before the Maga movement came to power because they would’ve been perfectly poised to go over that edge
Love you mama and dad
Miss you both
DyllCallihan3333 | 8 hours ago
I was always baffled why seemingly intelligent, nice people start blaming immigrants, brown people, Muslims or drag queens for all their problems. It seems pretty self evident billionaires and corporations cause actual harm. But the Right are very very clever with arousing people's anger. The reptilian brain cannot think. It is deeply disturbing watching people sink into a pit of hatred against their fellow struggling man, while cheering on human scum like Trump and Farage.
agdjfga | 12 hours ago
this is also strongly linked w TERFism and transphobia becoming rampant in the UK :(
[OP] Dreaming_Blackbirds | 11 hours ago
yep, the TERF morons are sliding rapidly down a pipe that leads into the same slop bucket.
espressocycle | 10 hours ago
Yeah. A lot of them started out with relatively reasonable skepticism of the kind of discourse that goes "trans women are women, no I will not be taking questions" but I can't even take them seriously anymore. I'm just gonna be on the side of trans people, right or wrong, at this point because the other side has radicalized so much.
carolina822 | 2 hours ago
Same. I don’t “get” a lot of things about being trans but I don’t have to to not be an ass about it. It’s not that much to ask.
cosmos_crown | 6 hours ago
I am so thankful that neither my parent or my in laws fell down the far right despite being the "perfect demographic". If anything they've gone more left.
casapantalones | 5 hours ago
I feel fortunate every day that the older generation of my family leans so hard to the left and has only become MORE liberal in the last 5-10 years.
SFWChocolate | 3 hours ago
I wish the article had acknowledged the fact that "right wing" is not the same thing now as it was 20, 30, 40 years ago. I think the main reason for people being more willing to break family contact over politics is the massive rightward shift of the Overton window. You could have a conservative friend in the 80s and 90s.
carolina822 | an hour ago
Yeah, friends can disagree on tax rates or the defense budget. Not so much when it comes to whether the nazis have a point.