Péter Érdi and Raoul Wadhwa
While the printing press enabled long-form communication and deep thought, the recent dominance of short-form communication has dramatically reduced the average attention span and has contributed to the rise of extremism and polarization. Social media platforms facilitate echo chambers that in turn promote
polarization by amplifying small differences via uncompensated positive feedback. Increasingly, we justify decisions based on short social media posts, headlines, or executive summaries without gaining a deep comprehension of the issue at hand.
Nuance advocates for the intentional reintroduction of nuanced thinking. The Information Age has quickly transitioned into the Misinformation Age. Technologies like social media should be carefully used in balance with tools that facilitate long-form communication; the latter could enable us to dive deeper and understand
broader perspectives of topics that we initially encounter on social media.
In Nuance, we translate results from cognitive science, social psychology, and complex systems into collective wisdom. With a historical lens, this book articulates a neglected issue that society faces and shows readers how the medium of communication and information consumption can shape thoughts far more than
they may have realized. Rapid scrolling through the seemingly infinite content available to us only facilitates shallow thinking. Although the book attacks a social-level problem, it offers a better communication strategy for individual readers, too. Nuance will show them how to avoid this pitfall and appreciate a more meaningful
life.
From RANKING to REPAIR! 