Sam Liebeskind

Unfollowing toxic social media influencers makes people less hostile! In 2 large field experiments, unfollowing a few extreme influencers: -Reduced partisan animosity by 24% -Increased satisfaction with Twitter/X -Led people to share higher-quality... See more

To understand exactly why this is the case, let’s consider Chesterton’s Fence, described by G. K. Chesterton himself as follows:

There exists in such a case a certain institution or law; let us say, for the sake of simplicity, a fence or gate erected across a road. The more modern type of reformer goes gaily up to it and says, “I don’t see the use

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Free-flowing exchange of work can establish non-transactional community. Not, like, asking your electrician to work for free, but asking your tech-savvy neighbor if they can help you install a light fixture this weekend.

This is the economic story: friction has become a class experience . Wealth has always helped smooth over bumps - but when the physical world is such a mess and the digital world is so easy, it’s simple to curate the digital into the physical if you have money.