June 26, 2024
On the value of my misinformation vs. the danger of yours...
When I first started One Daily Link, I made a concerted effort to avoid today’s columnist. He co-founded (and subsequently left) a news site I considered a step back for the industry, so anytime Google recommended him, I said, “No thank you and also please stop.” I don’t know what finally wore me down, but I’m grateful for it. The author is, at once, one of his party’s greatest proponents and one of its most incisive critics. I’m tempted say that’s an incredible feat, but it isn’t really. It’s just unfortunately rare, and that goes for both parties.
There are a number of reasons to recommend today’s link — the honesty, the self-awareness, the thoughtfulness. But the piece also touches on something I said yesterday about the unintended but inevitable effect of angry columns written for the choir. I could summarize the author’s point, but why do that when I can just quote him?
The problem is that it’s about a million times easier to persuade a highly engaged member of your team of something than it is to persuade a swing voter (who is probably skeptical, cynical, and not that engaged with politics) or a member of the opposition (who instinctively assumes you’re lying about everything). So when you put something out there that’s false or misleading, you’re about a million times more likely to confuse people who are friendly to your cause than to actually persuade anyone worth persuading.
I couldn’t have said it better myself. I didn’t say it better myself. That’s why I’m recommending today’s piece. I hope you enjoy it.