Episode 72: Social Media and Free Will, YouTube Religion Conference, Hunter Biden v. Donald Trump, Equality of Economic Outcomes

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The Thought Provoker:

Matt is up first this week. There is nothing members of our church value more than free will. Yet, Twitter founder Jack Dorsey warned this week that social media algorithms are robbing individuals of their free will. Specifically he said, “This is going to sound a little bit crazy, but I think the free speech debate is a complete distraction right now. I think the real debate should be about free will” “We are being programmed. We are being programmed based on what we say we’re interested in, and we’re told through these discovery mechanisms what is interesting—and as we engage and interact with this content, the algorithm continues to build more and more of this bias.” First of all, is he right? Second question, if he is right, what can be done to protect our free will?

Next up, Shawn. This week in Utah a bunch of religious YouTubers are putting on a virtual summit. “10 DAYS of talks, interviews and presentations by Latter-day Saints and Evangelicals on topics ranging from Jesus, marriage, politics, and heaven. The objective of this summit is to bring more voices to this conversation as we remain curious and committed to understanding respective beliefs, traditions and practices. “ Many of these social media content creators create sincere content and at the same time earn money via ads, pattern, contributions etc. Is this a conflict of interest? Is it wrong to create spiritual content for money?

Finally, Sam. Who deserves a longer prison sentence Hunter Biden or Donald Trump?

The Big Question: The Wall Street Journal this week has a story about the two different economies in the United States. Aaron Beck argues that the economic data show that rich people are doing especially well in the current economy while poor people are not. He shows that most of the economic growth in the US is in sectors dominated by areas where wealthy people spend money. The leisure and hospitality sector are booming. Food services, drinking places, amusement, gambling, cruise lines, air travel, and recreation are doing really well, but places like Campbell Soup and Pepperidge Farms are lowering their sales forecast because people are economizing on their snack purchases. While the overall unemployment rate is historically low at 4%, unemployment among 20-24 year olds is twice as high. Do governments have an obligation to try to make sure that all sectors of an economy or every demographic in an economy benefit equally from economic booms?