comment: >
  
  I would agree here but don't discount the effect of reddit here as well.
  Popular opinions are almost always up voted. But comments that go against popular opinions are down voted.
  But popularity isn't a marker of good debate. Good debate is both sides being able to see and talk to each other and discuss.
context: I think its the social media-fication of everything.  Tik Tok, FB, youtube shorts is all geared toward having a very short attention span.  People don't want to read something, or research anything when forming their opinions.  They get 30 second scare ads pumped to their eyeballs, and increasingly 15 second political ads.  You can't convey a meaningful point in 15 seconds.
  And then you couple that with terrible education, and its a recipe for disaster.  In my city, 75% of high school seniors cannot read or do math at grade level.  And that doesn't include the 30-40% who drop out, I'm going to guess 90% of the dropouts cannot read.  When you have an illiterate and innumerate populace, and you pump them full of garbage ads...  Yeah, they don't listen because they cannot understand.
  Political debates are just a shitshow.  I can't recall the last time I saw a politician make a coherent point in a debate, and then the opponent attempted to refute the point with facts and logic.  Its just idiots yelling at each other and talking over each other, trying to get a zinger.  Lincoln Douglas debates ain't happening.