On the 237th year anniversary of the signing of the United States Constitution, Brookhaven campus hosted Thomas Patterson, professor at John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. Minnesota native, veteran and author of “How America Lost Its Mind: The Assault on Reason that’s Crippling Our Democracy.” Also, author of the textbook We The People.

This talk was part of a four-part speaker series hosted on Brookhaven in preparation for this upcoming 2024 election. 

Patterson gave an introductory overview on the state of social media and its consequential disinformation landscape. He cautioned that the effects this has on our democracy can be detrimental to our nation. Pointing to recent major political events such as the numerous COVID-19 conspiracy theories circulating during the pandemic and the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.

The three main factors in this shift he outlined were party polarization, confirmation bias and the digital revolution. Patterson said bad actors can take advantage of this unregulated system. However, the willingness to potentially curve the effects of alternative facts, has unfortunately, in America become a partisan issue.

Patterson said the cultural shift of American politics is one of the contributors to this existential threat, as politics in America become more aligned with party loyalty, shaping what information we are willing to openly and blindly accept. He said: “Norms that once inhabited lying and deception by political leaders have weakened.”

Two more events will be held at Brookhaven Oct. 3 and 10 focusing on the importance of the 2024 election and voting rights.