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Comment by woodchuck64 | Hacker News Reader

> It allows them to spend less thought on the topics that are not concerned them in their day lives and spend more on their... day lives!

This works as long as the cocoon is perfectly insulated. But it isn't, as elections show. The political process basically cuts through the cocoon like a predatory wasp-- assuming there is at least one candidate or law that is incompatible with insulated beliefs. And then all that saved energy is wasted on moral warfare against the invaders.

Cocoons are always bad in a non-homogeneous society.

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Or maybe people should be free to associate as they wish? This seems to be the hardest concept for fellow Americans to grasp because it seems to be a growing (parasitically so) notion that we have to be friends to strangers who actively oppose to who we are or our interests. I don't want to force someone who thinks I'm a sinner for being bi and trans to be my friend nor do I want to be a friend to such a person. Nor should they or I have to endure each other's company beyond what's necessary to get a task done in public. If that's putting up a cocoon I'm not sure how civilization will get along then when every social interaction turns into a virtual duel. I'd rather just put up with fake courtesy than force someone into a fight with me or vice versa. Toleration is a better lubricant for social order than is constant challenges to deeply held beliefs.

> Toleration is a better lubricant for social order than is constant challenges to deeply held beliefs.

Sure, but "cocoons" breed intolerance by magnifying the fears and insecurities of the group. Maybe if you have balanced, open, secure people, blocking information doesn't hurt, but those people are not only rare, they tend to go out of their way for new information. They don't willingly slam the door on new streams of information so it seems their "cocoons" if they exist at all have fairly thin walls.

>Cocoons are always bad in a non-homogeneous society.

The most non-homegeneous society I know is New York.

I remember walking it and seeing Chinese area, black area, finance area, etc.

People always try to create bubbles around them with people they know they can trust. Or "facts" that supports their world view. Or familiar ideas. This all helps them spend less energy on "uninteresting" things.

> This all helps them spend less energy on "uninteresting" things.

And then they burn all that saved energy on moral warfare, raging furiously at non-threats. That's the problem.

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