Articles Of Loathing

It only takes a quick scroll through the comments section of any borderline political post to see how easily people descend into keyboard warfare. An article about veganism? Cue someone claiming meat is the only source of fibre. A piece on tax reform? Prepare to be swamped by conspiracy theories about immigrants or circular logic explaining how the poor are somehow hoarding all the money while still remaining poor.

At first glance, the internet seems like the last place you’d go for a learning experience or healthy debate.

The Promise of the Internet — and Its Downfall

In many ways, the original promise of the internet has become more realised than ever. The entirety of human knowledge is now at the fingertips of anyone with a decent connection. With the advent of complex language models — or “general artificial intelligence” as some call it — it’s easier than ever to access vast troves of information.

But access to all the facts doesn’t mean people make reasoned choices. In fact, despite all these tools, many seem to be narrowing their worldview. Some respond to the pace of change by retreating into the comfort of the familiar — and unfortunately, for some, that familiarity seems deeply at odds with values like acceptance, progress, and tolerance.

Why Beliefs Feel So Personal

Maybe I’m overthinking it. Humans have always been factional. History is littered with conflicts — not just ideological, but physical — waged over differences of opinion.

Still, it feels especially grating now. In this part of the world, people have more freedom than ever to think, feel, and believe what they want. They also have more time to explore why they believe it. And yet, many still defer to whatever tagline, headline, or influencer happens to confirm their views.

It often feels like being “clued in” gives people the confidence to assume they’re unchallengeable. We’ve all had that conversation with someone who proclaims:

“Do your own research!”
or
“If you don’t get it, you’re part of the problem.”

But these are often just defense mechanisms. What they really mean is:

“I can’t articulate why this resonates with me… but it does.”

That’s human. We don’t just believe things because of logic or data — we believe them because those beliefs become part of who we are. So when someone questions them, it can feel like a personal attack. And when we feel attacked, we rarely stop to reconsider. We double down.

Curated Realities and Cultish Thinking

The danger becomes greater when you add algorithms to the mix. We’ve all heard exaggerated stories: a boy who starts watching gym videos ends up in a far-right pipeline, or a girl watching makeup tutorials finds herself pushed toward OnlyFans. These stories are oversimplified — but not entirely wrong.

According to a Uswitch survey, people in the UK spend over five hours a day on screens. If that time is filled with carefully curated content — and only one kind of content — then those ideas start to stick.

Media doesn’t tell you what to think. It tells you what to think about. If your feed only shows one side of an argument — and the other side only when it’s being mocked — you lose the tools to handle disagreement in a healthy way.

Some say we don’t argue anymore because we’re being polite. I’d argue it’s the opposite: many people don’t argue because they don’t respect the other person enough to bother. And that’s far more corrosive.

Individualism Turned Inward

So why call this modern fanaticism?

Because what we’re seeing isn’t just disagreement. It’s belief turned into identity, identity turned into purity, and purity turned into a kind of tribal extremism. It’s toxic individualism — the kind that celebrates personal freedom so aggressively that any sense of shared community begins to erode.

Government programs and charities used to be the lifeblood of communal care. Now, governments increasingly prioritise individual “success,” and charities are left struggling for relevance, reliant on shrinking grants and dwindling donations.

What’s left? Online “communities” where everyone agrees, speaks the same language, and recites the same talking points. At a certain point, it’s hard to tell where community ends and cult begins.

The Power of Compromise

Historically, progress comes from compromise. It’s rare that everyone is happy about big societal changes — higher taxes burden some; welfare reforms hurt others. But compromise is what stitches society together. Demonising the opposing side just to win short-term support only creates long-term resentment.

A Quiet Conclusion

If there’s any advice to take from this — and I hesitate to even call this a “conclusion” — it’s the simplest and hardest thing to do: avoid the noise.

Social media is engineered to provoke. Outrage is one of the most effective tools for grabbing attention — and once they’ve got it, they’ll try to sell you dresses or branded supplements or ironic mugs with inflammatory slogans.

Try to stay informed, yes. But also stay grounded. Come back to your core beliefs. Tune out the clickbait masquerading as commentary. Let go of the indignation treadmill.

At the very least, your blood pressure will thank you.