#echo-chambers

#echo-chambers

We live in a world where it's easier than ever to surround ourselves with people who think exactly like we do. Social media bubbles, corporate cultures and even leadership teams can all become echo chambers, places where the loudest reinforcement drowns out the most valuable challenge. The problem? Echo chambers create blind spots. They emphasize what we want to hear, not what we need to hear. They boost our confidence but rarely bring clarity.

On many college campuses, tensions are sharper than ever, and for some students and faculty, simply sharing an idea carries a deep sense of hesitation. My work over the past several decades has focused on teaching evidence-based thinking to navigate such charged environments. This approach becomes especially relevant when we consider the twin processes psychologists call assimilation and accommodation, which describe how we learn and adapt to new information.

Major publishers worldwide report plunging traffic and revenue, fueling fears that their traditional business models are under existential threat, The Guardian reports in a deep dive into how the industry is reacting. It posits that Google's rapid rollout of AI-driven search features has ignited an industry-wide crisis, upending traditional publishing models and raising urgent questions about the future of journalism.

Erika Stael von Holstein, 41, has been advising European institutions on science, technology, society, and democracy for two decades. She's the founder and director of Re-Imagine Europe, a think tank focused on depolarization. The Stockholm-born advisor has also promoted Nodes.eu, a European observatory of narratives against disinformation. Von Holstein is a member of the expert council on artificial intelligence convened by the Spanish government. This work brought her to Madrid, where she met with EL PAIS.

Dr. Ronald Levant highlights that lonely young men engage with echo chambers for direction and express frustrations, with figures like Andrew Tate exploiting their discontent.