The Great Debate

I haven’t written anything new in such a while because what can I say that’s different from everything else out there. There is little point in me railing against Trump with his culture of ‘fake news’, moaning about the UK election featuring Mays struggle to hold power or even about the numerous terrorist attacks that have happened in recent months. These issues are covered everywhere and I can’t offer a fresh perspective on them.

My own problems seem minuscule in comparison; doubting my abilities in my new job, loneliness, family stresses….these are insignificant in the wider scheme.

Yet, in light of the rise of intolerance, racism, sexism (and all the other -ism’s) I want to touch on something that is written about often in relation to social media – opinion echo chambers.

In online terms this is when your social media of choice if filled with pages, people and posts that agree with and promote the opinions that you already hold. They reinforce the opinions you already hold and block out or shout down any which are in opposition. In an online environment it is easy to see how this can occur entirely by accident – your friends most likely share the same political views, you will ‘like’ pages you agree with and ‘follow’ news outlets you agree with.

However, we rarely discuss how this also affects us outside of our social media bubbles. The friends we choose, our family, our news sources (outside of social media), even out leisure activities can all impact the opinions and values we have. No one likes to be disagreed with but having an opinion challenged in a non-aggressive manner should be considered a good thing. Just because our political debates have become insult-slinging matches doesn’t mean the rest of us should follow suit.

A calm but passionate debate can cause you to analyse your own opinions and perhaps, even to question them. When we are presented with different facts or ways of thinking we should be open to hearing and evaluating them, not against our existing opinions but on their own merit. This promotes rational and critical thinking which in turn can help us to make rational and calm decisions in our everyday life. It also helps us to understand each other and others opinions instead of branding them ‘wrong’.

Our world is a bit of a mess at the moment and perhaps some of it has been caused by our own blind opinions. The rise of science and the Enlightenment only occurred because people were open to new ideas, by closing off our minds, we close off the possibility of moving forward as a species.

So next time a Trump supporter or a Conservative voter attacks you for your opinion, don’t immediately jump to your defence but instead try to understand why they hold the opinions that they have and, maybe, eventually  we can get back to an age of Enlightenment and get out of the dark ages we seem to have found ourselves in.

World Mental Health Day

Today is World Mental Health day  and it’s important, now more than ever, that we openly discuss mental health issues and the impact they can have on people’s lives. Roughly 1 in 4 people in the UK will, have or do suffer from a mental illness. Yet, Mental health research receives only 5.5% (£115 million) of total UK health research spending.

Mental illness is such a common problem, particularly for those aged between 18-30. The small funding that is provided for research is a drop in the water compared to the size of the problem. To add to this mental health services in the UK are overstretched, have long waiting times and, in some regions, lack specialist services meaning that even if someone asks for help they can be waiting a long time before they receive it.

These facts and figures can no longer be considered acceptable. Mental health is becoming a topic people can more openly discuss but it also needs recognised as an area that needs more funding and political attention.

We also need to allow people the opportunity to look after themselves; to take a day on the sofa without social interaction, to spoil themselves with a special purchase, to take a moment to address their mental health needs and meet them. In everyday life we are encouraged to look after our bodies, our careers, our relationships; we need to put more focus on looking after our own mental state.

Mental health needs to be taught in schools the same way that physical and sexual health is. If we can inform people of the common symptoms, feelings or problems then perhaps we can also teach people ways of coping through things such as mindfulness, meditation or ask for counselling.

Mental illness cannot continue to rise the way it has in recent years. We need to re-evaluate how we treat it, prevent it and educate ourselves on it. Today is Mental Health Day, let’s start changing things by taking the time today to address our own mental health needs and catering to them.

 

 

The UK needs satire

The medias’ responsibility is to educate the masses but this guideline has long been abused on both sides of the Atlantic. With the recent criticism of the BBC (and pretty much all other forms of media) it has come to my attention that this country is lacking something in its media/entertainment; Satirical TV shows. Shows such as ‘Mock the Week’ and ‘Spitting Image’ do/have existed but satirical shows are one thing which the US seems to do a lot better than the UK.

US Programmes such as ‘Last week tonight with John Oliver’ and ‘The Daily Show’ both add to the public’s education whilst providing light entertainment. These satire based entertainment shows tend to deal with current social and political issues, explaining them in such a way that gives them context whilst also making them interesting. Yes, they are biased in a way that can affect the audience, but they also break down the way in which traditional forms of media report the news.

News reportage is an issue in the UK right now, particularly concerning the BBC and the coverage of Scottish independence. Social media has helped to address the gaps that the BBC isn’t reporting but it isn’t enough. A satirical show such as those mentioned above could help to make these bits of news interesting as well as get them to a wider audience. These days new reporting is focused on  getting the most recent ‘facts’ out there, often without providing analysis or context. Satirical programming could help to correct that.

Satire is something we need in the UK. The lack of it is a detriment to the public. It can report issues that are ignored by the traditional news sources, as well as often challenging the establishment on their reporting. This could help to educate the public, something which our public broadcasting service seems to have abandoned recently.