When was this golden age of western civilization again? like 10 years ago, are you suggesting we were in this golden age? I mean, the paper this link is discussing is from 2014, so I guess it was more like 15 years ago that the golden age sunsetted?

That's really root cause in everything, isn't it?

- The consolidation of media (& social media in general) is about making money from outrage (emotions)

- Anti Vax (& other) movements is about people only receptive to people saying what they already feel (feelings)

- Accountability is gone because people care about being on the winning team and being "right".

Reason, Logic, and Evidence seems completely replaced by propaganda and mistrust of experts (fueled by the propaganda), but it's all rooted in comfort in people's own emotional validation.

Post-truth ... and it's gonna get worse.

Biases will always be endemic to any human system.

Excellent summary, as unfortunate as it is.

Oh that's not new.

I remember when I was a teenager there were lawsuits about trying to teach creationism in school. My entire life conservatives have been arguing against climate change.