The field's shift to platforms like Prolific means researchers now collect data from anonymous online participants without ever meeting them. This creates an ironic situation where the study of social behavior is conducted without any actual social contact between researcher and subject.

As early as 1968, thinkers forecasted that personalized news streams would make representative government impossible. They argued that atomized information would destroy the shared sense of community interest that is foundational to party politics and democratic deliberation.

The old social contract, where trusted institutions delivered verified facts, is broken. Higgins argues we now live in a many-to-many system where institutions must compete for attention against the public on platforms that algorithmically reward engagement over truth.

The perception of a deeply divided society is largely an artifact of a political system built on competition and elections, which forces people into two opposing camps. A system based on deliberation would reveal that most people's views are not so rigidly coherent, and it would encourage finding common ground rather than winning at all costs.

Contrary to the narrative that prediction markets make polling obsolete, they heavily rely on polling data as a fundamental input. Without polls, these markets would be based on "vibes and fundraising numbers," lacking a crucial data-driven foundation.

The current level of hyper-partisanship is not a recent phenomenon but the culmination of a continuous, 40-year decline in public trust across all major institutions, including government, media, and church. Trust was significantly higher even during past national traumas like the assassinations of the 1960s and Watergate.

Democratic systems were designed for slow, compromise-seeking processes. However, modern technology creates a 'cacophony' of instant information and demands immediate reactions. This fundamental mismatch contributes to societal instability and a feeling that the system is broken, driving people toward authoritarian figures who promise quick fixes.

Today's identity politics is enabled and defined by computer-driven systems. Algorithms sort and target individuals, grouping them into quantifiable blocks that can then assert political power. This differs fundamentally from earlier forms of interest-group mobilization that were not algorithmically constructed.

The true danger isn't partisan bickering but the collapse of shared cultural institutions like family, faith, and community. These provided a common identity and purpose that held the nation together, and their erosion leaves a void that politics cannot fill, removing the nation's "center of gravity."