Outrage-Culture
Living Under the Same Roof: Part III
In Part I and Part II, I explored how moral performance thrives in our hyper-connected world, and how cognitive distortions fuel “righteous” anger. To close the series, I want to shift from spectacle to substance: what we can actually do to restore understanding in the spaces we share.
We’re wired to explain others’ behavior by their character (“she’s careless,” “he’s malicious”) and our own behavior by circumstances (“I was rushed,” “the system failed”). That bias, _the fundamental attribution error, supercharges moral performance. It flattens people into villains and snips away context, making outrage feel justified and dialogue feel pointless.
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Living Under the Same Roof: Part I
There’s a woman standing in a parking spot on the street, holding up her right hand in a “stop” gesture to a driver attempting to park. She’s saving the spot for a friend. In her left hand, she holds her cell phone. The driver, gripping the steering wheel with his right hand, also has a phone raised in his left. They’re filming each other.
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Living Under the Same Roof Part II
In the first part of this series, we examined moral performance and how it contributes to outrage culture.. In this installment, we will take a closer look at that outrage and how it is fueled by cognitive biases and errors.
Fuse, Flame, Fire, and Fallout
We are wired to assign blame. It gives us a sense of control in moments of frustration, as if naming a culprit relieves the tension of not knowing what, or who, to fault. Neuroscience shows that anger is not only emotional, but chemical: it delivers a dopamine surge that feels rewarding, even energizing. Online platforms amplify that surge, because outrage keeps us scrolling, sharing, and arguing. Anger becomes less about truth and more about the payoff of feeling right.
Read more →
Living Under the Same Roof Part II
In the first part of this series, we examined moral performance and how it contributes to outrage culture.. In this installment, we will take a closer look at that outrage and how it is fueled by cognitive biases and errors.
Fuse, Flame, Fire, and Fallout
We are wired to assign blame. It gives us a sense of control in moments of frustration, as if naming a culprit relieves the tension of not knowing what, or who, to fault. Neuroscience shows that anger is not only emotional, but chemical: it delivers a dopamine surge that feels rewarding, even energizing. Online platforms amplify that surge, because outrage keeps us scrolling, sharing, and arguing. Anger becomes less about truth and more about the payoff of feeling right.
Read more →
