Yes, the problem that you describe (what sociologists would call “anomie”) would not have been possible without "social media." But at least no one deliberately set out to use the technology in order to undermine and ultimately destroy society (presumably to build a utopian one on the ruins). That's more than I can say for postmodernism, which originated long before digital technology and has by now metastasized as ideological offshoots such as wokism. How could anyone discern ambiguity or nuance in the first place without acknowledging the legitimacy of applying reason to sort out what would otherwise appear as chaos? And why would anyone even search for objective truth at all without acknowledging its existence except as "our truth" instead of "their truth"?
No doubt. One of postmodernism's many, many faults is that it essentially voids any ability or even inclination toward the type of depth, subtlety, nuance and fine gradations of truth and meaning without which intellectual life is pretty barren. One's adoption of post-modernism results immediately in superficiality and makes one a very uninteresting conversationalist.
Yes, the problem that you describe (what sociologists would call “anomie”) would not have been possible without "social media." But at least no one deliberately set out to use the technology in order to undermine and ultimately destroy society (presumably to build a utopian one on the ruins). That's more than I can say for postmodernism, which originated long before digital technology and has by now metastasized as ideological offshoots such as wokism. How could anyone discern ambiguity or nuance in the first place without acknowledging the legitimacy of applying reason to sort out what would otherwise appear as chaos? And why would anyone even search for objective truth at all without acknowledging its existence except as "our truth" instead of "their truth"?
No doubt. One of postmodernism's many, many faults is that it essentially voids any ability or even inclination toward the type of depth, subtlety, nuance and fine gradations of truth and meaning without which intellectual life is pretty barren. One's adoption of post-modernism results immediately in superficiality and makes one a very uninteresting conversationalist.