I wholeheartedly agree with your view on social media.
We know, upon opening a novel, say, that what’s contained in the pages is the product of the author’s imagination.
I suspect that the compartmentalization is leaky. Consciously, I know that the depicted snake is not real. Yet I still feel uneasy if I look at the image.
Repeated observed association between some X and a negative emotion—will make them associated in my mind, even if the association is entirely fictional.
For example, because of fiction, most people fear sharks much more than they fear cows, although cows are killing orders of magnitude more people per year. Same with terrorism vs heart disease.
I wholeheartedly agree with your view on social media.
I suspect that the compartmentalization is leaky. Consciously, I know that the depicted snake is not real. Yet I still feel uneasy if I look at the image.
Repeated observed association between some X and a negative emotion—will make them associated in my mind, even if the association is entirely fictional.
For example, because of fiction, most people fear sharks much more than they fear cows, although cows are killing orders of magnitude more people per year. Same with terrorism vs heart disease.
The damage chance per encounter is higher with sharks than cows, surely?