Exiting the Echo Chamber Resolution #7

We all know that resolutions are very hard to keep.  Gym membership peaks in January and drops significantly by mid-February.  I know that I will find these resolutions hard to keep.

Resolution #6 is scary, and I will have to take this one on in small steps.

Resolution #5 is hard, because my immediate response when a post hits me emotionally is to react without reflection.

Resolution #4 is emotionally challenging.

Resolution #3 requires patience, a virtue I've had a lifelong struggle with.

Resolution #2 takes conscious self-monitoring.

Resolution #1 is probably the easiest one for me, but the part about openness -- that's going to take some self-monitoring, too.

So, if we are friends on Facebook, you're going to see me slip up, but not give up.  These resolutions are not about fitness, or keeping a cleaner house, resolutions that can be forgotten in 6 weeks with no consequence to anyone but me and my family.

I started thinking about these resolutions in December. I had an very good idea what of was ahead of us this January. Nothing though could have prepared me for the real life horror of spending  half of a day watching American insurgents storm our Capitol and try to prevent Congress from carrying out a Constitutional process.

Because it is a highly significant (though by no means  only) source of division and extremism,  I am resolved to step out of the echo chamber, and I invite you to come with me.   The readings that have influenced my thinking are listed below.

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​"10 Journalism Brands Where You Find Real Facts Rather Than Alternative Facts", by Paul Glader.
Authoritarian Nightmare: Trump and His Followers, by John W. Dean and Bob Altemeyer.
"How to Break Out of Your Social Media Echo Chamber", by Christopher Seneca.
I Think You’re Wrong (But I’m Listening). by Sarah Stewart Holland and Beth Silvers.
Talking Across the Divide: How to Communicate With People You Disagree With, by Justin Lee. 
The Three Languages of Politics, by Arnold Kling.                                                                        
Thinking, Fast and Slow, by Daniel Kahneman.
Trumpocalypse: Restoring American Democracy, by David Frum.