We were downtown Chapel Hill right when the main part of the storm hit. East Franklin St., near Cholinad restaurant, flooded significantly so that it was impassible w/ cars stalled in the flood waters.

We’ve seen this repeatedly. QAnon. COVID denial. Election lies. War crimes denial. In each case, the problem wasn’t just what people believed, it was how those beliefs hardened into identity and made correction impossible.

We don’t live in a neutral marketplace of ideas. We live in an attention economy shaped by algorithms, tribal identity, outrage incentives, and profit models that reward engagement over accuracy.