The Murray Gelman Effect

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We're becoming more distorted in our perceptions about the other people that are all american, or all part of the same community. And we can measure that distortion. That's what your work does, which means we can reduce it. We really do need instrumentation. I want twitter to actually be fixed so it doesn't refy my miamnesian ins that it corrects reality to show itself in a more accurate way. It's hard to sustain a post intervention understanding on the other side. The current ways in which social medim in particular, but medinmg more generally, tends to elevate the voices of folks who are more extreme in their views. So we've ask consistently

What do you think the other side thinks? Guest Dan Vallone is the Director of More in Common U.S.A., an organization that’s been asking Democrats and Republicans that critical question. Their work has uncovered countless “perception gaps” in our understanding of each other. For example, Democrats think that about 30 percent of Republicans support "reasonable gun control," but in reality, it’s about 70 percent. Both Republicans and Democrats think that about 50 percent of the other side would feel that physical violence is justified in some situations, but the actual number for each is only about five percent. “Both sides are convinced that the majority of their political opponents are extremists,” says Dan. “And yet, that's just not true.” Social media encourages the most extreme views to speak the loudest and rise to the top—and it’s hard to start a conversation and work together when we’re all arguing with mirages. But Dan’s insights and the work of More in Common provide a hopeful guide to unraveling the distortions we’ve come to accept and correcting our foggy vision.