The Neuroscience of Reality Bubbles

Human perception is not a mirror of reality but a subjective tapestry woven from unconscious depths, shaped by neurological processes and amplified by cultural and media forces. The psyche constructs reality through sensing, cognizing, recognizing, judging (with attraction, aversion, or indifference), and intellectualizing, rooted in the brain’s sensory cortices, thalamus, prefrontal cortex, amygdala, hippocampus, and default mode network (DMN). These processes create personal and collective “reality bubbles” that define individual and shared worldviews. In the United States, two dominant bubbles have shaped society since FDR’s radio ‘fireside chats’ in the 1930s: the mainstream consensus bubble (1950s–1990s), which unified perception under the Fairness Doctrine, and the right-wing media bubble, ascendant since its 1987 repeal. This latter bubble, driven by fear and conspiratorial narratives, reflects America’s unacknowledged tensions, rooted in the unresolved wounds of the Civil War. Donald Trump emerges as a manifestation of these tensions, embodying rage, division, and scapegoating tendencies that echo the nation’s historical struggle with xenophobia, supremacy, and violence.

The Psyche’s Construction of Reality

Perception is an active, predictive process, not a passive reflection. Sensory inputs filter through the thalamus, are processed by sensory cortices, and interpreted by the prefrontal cortex, where unconscious biases and past experiences shape judgments. The amygdala assigns emotional weight—attraction, aversion, or neutrality—while the hippocampus weaves memories into context. The DMN integrates these into cohesive narratives, forming subjective realities or “bubbles” that can align or clash, fostering unity or division. Without conscious awareness of biases, the psyche distorts reality, especially when influenced by media or ideological groups. These bubbles are not only individual but collective, amplified by shared narratives that exploit the psyche’s tendencies, shaping public perception and behavior.

The Mainstream Consensus Bubble (1950s–1990s)

From the 1950s to 1990s, the mainstream consensus bubble dominated American consciousness, shaped by major television networks (ABC, CBS, NBC) and newspapers under the Fairness Doctrine (1949–1987). This policy mandated balanced coverage, fostering a centrist narrative that projected a unified national identity. Post-World War II, television reached 90% of U.S. households by 1960, with figures like Walter Cronkite and shows like The Ed Sullivan Show promoting American exceptionalism, Cold War dualities, and social conformity. This bubble soothed the collective psyche, reinforcing trust in institutions—government, media, corporations—by aligning with the ego’s desire for stability. Neurologically, it leveraged confirmation bias, with the amygdala assigning positive or neutral valence to familiar narratives, and the DMN weaving a worldview of progress. Yet, this bubble suppressed dissenting voices, such as civil rights activists, framing their struggles as threats to order. The Vietnam War’s graphic coverage cracked this facade, and the 1987 repeal of the Fairness Doctrine under Reagan unleashed deeper tensions, fragmenting the consensus and birthing polarized realities.

The Right-Wing Media Bubble and America’s Unresolved Tensions (Post-1987)

The repeal of the Fairness Doctrine unleashed the right-wing media bubble, driven by outlets like Fox News (launched 1996), talk radio (e.g., Rush Limbaugh), and later, platforms like Breitbart, Newsmax, and X. This bubble projects America’s unintegrated fears, resentments, and divisions, rooted in the Civil War’s legacy of racial and cultural conflict, constructing a reality of distrust, grievance, and conspiracy. Reacting to perceived liberal dominance, it grew along with Limbaugh’s radio show (20 million listeners by the 1990s) and Fox News (3 million nightly viewers by 2010). Social media algorithms, post-2010, radicalized audiences by prioritizing outrage, exploiting the amygdala’s fear response to frame immigrants, liberals, and institutions as threats, constructing a crisis-laden narrative.

Trump’s rise reflects the eruption of these tensions, channeling the Civil War’s legacy of division, supremacy, and fear of the “other.” His rhetoric, calling opponents “vermin” and immigrants “poison,” mirrors the dehumanization of the collective shadow, resonating with a base that feels besieged. A 2016 study found 40% of Americans favor authoritarianism, while a 2023 poll showed 23% of voters, including one-third of Republicans, support political violence, reflecting destructive potential. The Department of Homeland Security’s radicalization, including calls for a “volunteer force,” echoes historical militias and xenophobic tropes, with 80% of detainees and deportees having no criminal record. This bubble amplifies fear of outsiders, scapegoating immigrants to distract from systemic issues, such as the top 1% owning over 30% of wealth, and the fossil fuel companies’ environmental toll.

The projection of these tensions fuels conspiracies, like QAnon’s “deep state” or Trump’s election fraud claims (believed by 70% of Republicans in 2021), which activate neural pathways akin to paranoid delusions, with the amygdala overreacting and the DMN weaving false narratives. The January 6, 2021, Capitol riot, fueled by these conspiracies, reveals the violent potential of these divisions, while Christian nationalism, led by figures like House Speaker Mike Johnson, merges theocratic zeal with authoritarian impulses, threatening secular governance.

Echoes in Religious Fanaticism

Historically, unintegrated collective fears have driven religious purism, projecting aggression onto “others” to maintain a sense of purity. The destruction of the Library of Alexandria (3rd–5th centuries CE), led by early Christian zealots like Patriarch Theophilus, targeted intellectuals like Hypatia, erasing knowledge to enforce a dogmatic reality bubble.

One early spring day during the year 415 in the city of Alexandria—the intellectual heart of the waning Roman Empire—the pagan philosopher Hypatia was murdered by a mob of Christian men. These men, the parabalani, were a volunteer militia of monks serving as henchmen to the archbishop. Their conscripted purpose was to aid the dead and dying but they could be more readily found terrorizing opposing Christian groups and leveling pagan temples. At the urging of Cyril, bishop of Alexandria, they had already destroyed the remains of the Library of Alexandria. The parabalani razed pagan temples, attacked the Jewish quarters, and defiled masterpieces of ancient art they considered demonic by mutilating statues and melting them down for gold. They now set their gaze on the city’s beloved teacher of mathematics and philosophy, whose social ranking was on par with Alexandria’s most important men. Understanding nothing of her philosophy, they called her a witch. They pulled the elderly teacher from her chariot as she rode through the city and dragged her to a temple. She was stripped naked, her skin flayed with jagged pieces of oyster shells, her limbs pulled from her body and paraded through the streets. Her remains were burned in a mockery of pagan sacrifice. Hypatia’s death marked the end of paganism and the triumph of Christianity, the final act of a one-hundred-year-old feud waged by the new religion against the ancient world.

This pattern repeats in the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, and purist movements in Islam and Hinduism, where fear of difference justified violence. In America, the roots of division from the Civil War resurface in modern Christian nationalism, which blends evangelical zeal with right-wing media narratives. The Moral Majority, founded in 1979, mobilized evangelicals to control politics, education, and culture, mirroring Alexandria’s intellectual suppression. Book bans, creationism, and climate denial reflect the rejection of reason, framing dissent as evil.

Xenophobia and Geopolitical Convergence

Xenophobia, a core projection of America’s unresolved tensions, is rooted in the Southern Baptist Convention’s historical defense of slavery and suspicion of non-Protestants. From 19th-century anti-immigrant sentiment to modern narratives of “migrant caravans,” the right-wing bubble scapegoats outsiders, ignoring their economic contributions. This distracts from systemic inequalities, protecting billionaire interests. The bubble’s alignment with US-UK-Israeli geopolitical goals, driven by evangelical support for right-wing Zionism, reflects a need for cosmic struggle, with groups like Christians United for Israel lobbying for policies that fuel Middle East instability, benefiting fossil fuel companies while undermining environmental progress.

The right-wing media bubble, by projecting America’s unresolved tensions from the Civil War, has polarized society, eroding trust in democracy, science, and reason. Trump, as a manifestation of these tensions, channels rage and division, amplifying fear through conspiracies and xenophobia. To heal, America must confront its past through conscious integration, regulating media algorithms, fostering critical thinking, and resisting theocratic overreach by, say, re-introducing Civics classes in all primary schools. Without this, fanaticism risks recreating Alexandria’s intellectual devastation, threatening reason and democracy in a fractured nation that increasingly resembles the United States depicted in 2006’s Idiocracy.