Engaging closed-mindedly with your polluted media feed

Abstract

Rewind to June 2020. Most of your interactions are on-line due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and protests against systemic racism are occurring in cities across the United States. Imagine that racist claims about crime, and fake news about COVID-19, appear in your social media feeds. You know the claims in question are false, and you care about truth. What should you do? Should you engage in some way? If so, with what or whom should you engage, and how should you engage? Should you engage open-mindedly or closed-mindedly? This chapter argues that we should engage closed-mindedly. We should dismiss and report false posts, advocate for structural reform of content algorithms, and flood the epistemic environment with truths and critical thinking. We should also be alive to opportunities where closed-minded engagement with people who believe the posts can produce good epistemic effects overall. © 2021 selection and editorial matter Heather Battaly.