Today I got stuck in what a former colleague called a YouTube vortex. That is what happens when you intend to watch a single video, then see an attractive link, and another, and another...
It all started because I was reading Cafe Hayek and followed a link to a Friedman clip. I decided to watch some more Friedman. That took me to Walter Williams. Then Thomas Sowell. Then Mike Munger. When I finally pulled out of the vortex, having been bombarded by a whole lot of highly thoughtful and intelligent ideas, the thing that struck me most had nothing to do with economics.
I have no idea why I scrolled down the page while watching any of those videos, but I did. Three times. The comments for each video were, without fail, quite depressing. As most consumers of online media are well aware, the comments section is not exactly the place one would go for a rational, civil, constructive discourse. The vitriol directed at Friedman, Sowell, and Munger was quite something, and I'm sure that, had I looked at the comments on the Williams clips, I would have found the same.
Today I relearned, again, that I need to be very vigilant in combating the human tendency to villainize people whose ideas do not agree with my own. Williams, Friedman, Sowell, and Munger are all brilliant men. They're also well-intentioned and, if the testimony of those who know them is accurate, quite caring, generous people. One would think, based on the YouTube comments I saw today, that these men are the best of the best when it comes to evil. It would be easy to tell myself that I'm better than the YouTube commenters, but I don't think that is true. I think I'm just as prone to this as anyone else is. I can think of several times when I was particularly guilty. My family, friends, and acquaintances have been guilty, too.
Economics, especially when it intersects with politics, as it often does, seems to elicit this kind of behavior. I hope that I have the presence of mind to remember the valuable lesson I've learned from great economists like Russ Roberts, Milton Friedman, Walter Williams, Thomas Sowell, and Mike Munger: sometimes wonderful, intelligent people have different views than I do, and I do a disservice to them and to myself to respond with anything other than openness and respect.
Wonder how long until I need to relearn that again?
It all started because I was reading Cafe Hayek and followed a link to a Friedman clip. I decided to watch some more Friedman. That took me to Walter Williams. Then Thomas Sowell. Then Mike Munger. When I finally pulled out of the vortex, having been bombarded by a whole lot of highly thoughtful and intelligent ideas, the thing that struck me most had nothing to do with economics.
I have no idea why I scrolled down the page while watching any of those videos, but I did. Three times. The comments for each video were, without fail, quite depressing. As most consumers of online media are well aware, the comments section is not exactly the place one would go for a rational, civil, constructive discourse. The vitriol directed at Friedman, Sowell, and Munger was quite something, and I'm sure that, had I looked at the comments on the Williams clips, I would have found the same.
Today I relearned, again, that I need to be very vigilant in combating the human tendency to villainize people whose ideas do not agree with my own. Williams, Friedman, Sowell, and Munger are all brilliant men. They're also well-intentioned and, if the testimony of those who know them is accurate, quite caring, generous people. One would think, based on the YouTube comments I saw today, that these men are the best of the best when it comes to evil. It would be easy to tell myself that I'm better than the YouTube commenters, but I don't think that is true. I think I'm just as prone to this as anyone else is. I can think of several times when I was particularly guilty. My family, friends, and acquaintances have been guilty, too.
Economics, especially when it intersects with politics, as it often does, seems to elicit this kind of behavior. I hope that I have the presence of mind to remember the valuable lesson I've learned from great economists like Russ Roberts, Milton Friedman, Walter Williams, Thomas Sowell, and Mike Munger: sometimes wonderful, intelligent people have different views than I do, and I do a disservice to them and to myself to respond with anything other than openness and respect.
Wonder how long until I need to relearn that again?
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