**** Elections thread *****

[Jack Sawyer]

By making so much information so accessible, social media has drastically changed the way we consume information and form opinions in the modern era. The danger, however, is that social media creates an “echo chamber” that filters the information people receive so that it largely supports their existing opinions.

Who knew? In other news, a science study claims water to be "wet" most of the time

https://arstechnica.com/science/2017...amber-is-real/

[Poopadoop]

Who knew?

https://arstechnica.com/science/2017...amber-is-real/

Although I can empathize with the sentiment that social science dollars are often being spent on 'proving the obvious' there is often a good case for doing so (although the above may not necessarily be in that category).

An example of such research that had an actual impact would be the psychological studies showing how distractions like mobile phones impair your ability to drive. In this case 'proving the obvious' with hard data led to actual changes in laws that otherwise might not have gone through (or at least not as quickly). Lives saved = good thing.

Personally I would not find this type of research very challenging or engaging to do, since you pretty much know the answer going in, but that doesn't always mean it's pointless work. Even the echo chamber research might have some utility if it encourages people to be more open-minded about where they get their 'news'.