Insipred by Nick’s “Who Cares About Apathy?” MSN screen name.

Our society promotes apathy through the polarization of arguments, thus preventing people from finding a truly safe stance, leading to a feeling of alienation from the argument and a sense of apathy about said topic.

Example time!
Abortion (note—this is just an example. It can be seen several ways; don’t get pissy if you don’t agree with my logic here. It’s the first example that popped into my head).

1. Highly polarized argument: you’re either for it (pro-choice) or against it (pro-life). Not many in between, not many people see anything in between.

2. While trying to secure your stance on whichever side you choose, you’re met with opposing arguments aimed at poking holes in your logic.

3. You try to reason to yourself to remain where you stand, but find it increasingly difficult as you face strong opposition from the other side.

4. Despite your passion for an argument, you are eventually overwhelmed by the constant having to defend your position as well as the constant attacks by the other side.

5. Essentially, you give a big “screw it” to the whole thing. Apathy about said topic can develop.