Curation Can Lead to Bigotry
by Miki Saxon
Companies that allow silos risk seeing divisions and departments that fight each other instead of focusing how each can best contribute to the company’s success—think Microsoft.
Globally, politics has become dominated by ideological silos and the wealthy believers who funnel rivers of money to their pet ideologues—think US Congress.
Several years ago a couple of startups gave the college-bound a way to curate their roommates, so they could be sure not to be exposed to ideas, attitudes or upbringing not in sync with their current thinking.
Mangers have been doing this for decades by thoughtlessly hiring people like themselves, so they can stay within their personal comfort zones.
Every article I read tells me to “sign in and see what your friends are reading” or buying/thinking/doing/voting.
Dozens of new apps offer to filter your information/experience/travel plans/etc. based on what “people like you” think/did/own/bought.
The result of all this curation by like-minded people is a constant narrowing of experiences, therefore attitudes and thoughts.
That narrowing leads to an inability to understand those not like us, which, in turn, kills compassion, i.e., the ability to walk in the other person’s shoes.
The end result is a rise in all forms of bigotry, not just people, but food, places, cultures, religions, politics—the list is endless.
I’m not saying there isn’t value in curation, especially considering the tsunami of information that engulfs everything in its path.
Just be sure a large chunk of the recommendations come from people NOT like you.
Flickr image credit: SalFalko
