It feels good to be right, and with the bridge of connections that the internet has built for us, that quick shot of righteousness is but a few keystrokes away. When we open our web browser, we are inundated with relentless opining about whatever topic we can think of: Large-scale issues such as climate change and vaccines, along with ones so innocuous, I couldn’t even think of an example (but you better believe someone somewhere is mad about them). 

Due to the global reach of this aforementioned internet thing, we as humans now have this ability to be angry and righteous about topics that have no bearing on our lives whatsoever. I don’t want this to sound like I am arguing against the greater connectedness that the internet brings to our communication. Like any other tool, the internet can be used for good and evil. If I have a hammer, I can use it to help build a rocking chair for my grandma or beat my neighbor over the head with it; both choices are latent within the user, not the tool. But what I believe this superhighway of communication has done for many people is create a greater gravitational pull toward our biases and paradigms. More than ever, now is the time to rehumanize our perceptions of others and connect to that deeper level of shared humanity.

Having biases and paradigms is an inescapable reality of life. Every experience we have had leading up to where we are right now has shaped how we view the world. It should be noted, though, that our openness and experiences are what can change the future of our biases. This is where the adverse effects of the internet come in. Under the influence of the gravitational pull of opinions on the internet, something that you perhaps had a very mild view on or maybe no feelings whatsoever towards can now pull you in. Strengthening your emotional attachment to this topic and taking you further from the “middle ground” where you can view and talk about things more objectively.

After enough of this gravitational clumping of opinions, one might look around and see nothing where the middle ground once stood. It has become a cavernous chasm where you must pick a side. Once you’ve determined that side, there is more content than ever to remind you why you chose that side and why the other side is wrong as hell. Now is the time to help bridge this chasm, not forcing yourself to agree with everyone, or to stay neutral about every single topic, because this is a great impossibility, but by connecting to the place underneath all of these divergent opinions,where the essence of being human stays unaffected by the changing surface levels.

To enact this idea/solution, one can try something as simple as traveling to a new place with a different culture as a surface-level, geographical solution. It’s incredible how asking questions and experiencing a new culture can do wonders for your paradigm blindness. Experiencing people “IRL,” who, on the internet, would be just opinions disconnected from the full spectrum of humanity, allows you to fill in the blanks and form a complete person with a wide range of emotions and experiences within your perception.

In order to fight polarization, it is also crucial to question yourself and your paradigm. If we don’t stop and see where our blind spots are, we may go our entire lives reinforcing them without knowing the truth. Our paradigm acts as an unconscious contact lens, coloring all that we experience with the hue of our past. Next time you notice yourself judging a situation harshly, stop and note that down. Ask yourself your reasoning for this judgment. Was it a conscious decision, or merely your unconscious paradigm speaking for you? This is where we must start if we hope to bridge this unfortunate gap between us concerning contentious topics. With these incredibly nuanced topics, we will all find that we are much closer to the middle than those we surround ourselves with have led us to believe. The more we can fill in this chasm with the option of a middle ground, the stronger our bridge becomes to everyone else.

Consider all of this and the humanity behind the opinions the next time you judge a voice online. We have many tools to learn about others, educate ourselves, and experience things that our geographical limitations have yet to allow us to experience up to this point. Aim to be aware of our self-righteousness and transcend this righteousness to grow and expand our awareness. The positive consequences if more people did this would be immense. It is up to each individual to transform the separation that comes from the internet and their binary thinking into the global connection that we are capable of achieving.