# Echo Chambers and Epistemic Bubbles

**URL:** <https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/echo-chambers-and-epistemic-bubbles/57303>\
**Category:** Scuttlebutt\
**Created:** [November 2, 2020, 10:50am UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/echo-chambers-and-epistemic-bubbles/57303 "2020-11-02T10:50:39Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Kennebec\_Captain](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/kennebec_captain/32/13_2.png) [@Kennebec\_Captain](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Kennebec_Captain)\
**Post date:** [November 2, 2020, 10:50am UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/echo-chambers-and-epistemic-bubbles/57303/1 "2020-11-02T10:50:39Z")

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A couple of interesting articles. Here the terms “echo chambers” and “epistemic bubbles” are defined in a precise way which turns out to be very helpful to understanding two closely related but separate phenomena.

> **[Why it’s as hard to escape an echo chamber as it is to flee a cult | Aeon Essays](https://aeon.co/essays/why-its-as-hard-to-escape-an-echo-chamber-as-it-is-to-flee-a-cult)**
>
> First you don’t hear other views. Then you can’t trust them. Your personal information network entraps you just like a cult

Link to the paper Echo Chambers and Epistemic Bubbles: [https://wmpeople.wm.edu/asset/index/cvance/echo](https://wmpeople.wm.edu/asset/index/cvance/echo)

Both about or by

> [C Thi Nguyen](https://aeon.co/users/c-thi-nguyen) is an assistant professor of philosophy at Utah Valley University working in social epistemology,

> there are two very different phenomena at play here, each of which subvert the flow of information in very distinct ways. Let’s call them _echo chambers_ and _epistemic bubbles_ . Both are social structures that systematically exclude sources of information. Both exaggerate their members’ confidence in their beliefs. But they work in entirely different ways, and they require very different modes of intervention. An epistemic bubble is when you don’t _hear_ people from the other side. An echo chamber is what happens when you don’t _trust_ people from the other side.

Made a pass at this on this thread:

> [@Information, Misinformation, Disinformation](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/information-misinformation-disinformation/55174):
>
> Not necessarily stupid. If a person was smart they might do an internet search to see if the information can be verified. And in this case information can be found that apparently veriies the idea [Trump’s ‘disinfectant injections’ idea comes straight from internet conspiracy theories](https://thenextweb.com/corona/2020/04/24/trumps-disinfectant-injections-idea-comes-straight-from-internet-conspiracy-theories/) Conspiracy theorists, including those that center around the QAnon conspiracy, have also advocated for drinking a diluted form of bleach called Medical Mineral Solution, or MMS. QAnon adherents falsely believ…