I was watching Cristiano Ronaldo’s interview with Piers Morgan last week with a feeling of sadness.

I pondered why a player of his profile, who achieved so much in football, is now struggling at a declining club and feeling so unsettled. 

There is no doubt that Cristiano’s attitude and discipline are why he is one of the greatest players to have played football. 

But, there also looks to be a pattern as to how maybe that same attitude is now also becoming the reason for his downfall. 

During the interview, Ronaldo makes a statement that he doesn’t like to be around people who criticize him. He only keeps in touch with his fans and admirers. 

This has been evident in his behavior with him publicly snubbing several of his old teammates for criticizing him. 

Cristiano considers himself the best and is also surrounded by people who consider him the best and are always full of praise. 

This has perhaps distorted his perspective and he finds it quite difficult to hear opposing viewpoints about his performance as age is catching up. 

When people become successful, their past success gives them credibility. 

The people around start trusting the person’s capabilities to an extent that they often overlook any red signals. 

This creates a vicious cycle wherein the person is only used to hearing good things about him. 

It becomes difficult to question the credibility of such a person, however wrong they might sound.

This creates an environment wherein the person encounters perspectives and opinions that reflect and reinforce their own. 

Such an environment is called an Echo Chamber. 

Echo Chambers are not just limited to the ultra-rich and successful folks but any other human, including you and I. 

Humans are hard-wired to like people who are similar to them. Connecting with people with similar interests and thought processes is easier. 

Our desire to be around these people often creates an echo chamber, wherein we hear only those things that reinforce our beliefs. 

The more time we spend in this echo chamber where we don’t hear any opposing views, the more we start feeling confident that our point of view is correct. 

This is a vicious cycle that is also fuelled by confirmation bias. We start selectively looking for data that only confirms what we already know. 

The rise of social media is again a reason why you see such polarized views among groups.

The algorithms are designed to show you more of what you already have seen and what they think you like. 

Personalization of content isolates you from the perspectives and information you haven’t expressed interest in. 

The term for this phenomenon in social media is called a filter bubble. 

Every one of us lives in a filter bubble and in the majority of cases, we won’t even realize this. 

Over time, this can lead to the radicalisation of thought, and we close our minds to fresh and new ideas that might be contrary to what we believe.

This is not to say we shouldn’t have strong beliefs. But these should be loosely held. In light of new evidence and difference in perspectives, it is good to change your ideas.

To avoid an echo chamber, the first step is to be aware that you’re in one. 

This requires some active effort as you need to start questioning whether the viewpoints you receive from the internet or the people around you tend to portray just one perspective. 

Or are arguments supported by rumor or incomplete evidence? Or are the facts being completely ignored while discussing something?

Getting out of an echo chamber requires us to get out of our comfort zone and interact with different kinds of people regularly. 

It becomes important that you check multiple news sources before forming your opinion. 

It requires you to actively avoid confirmation bias and form opinions after the data is in place and not vice versa. 

The comfort of familiarity and reinforcement can be addictive. 

Humans want to belong. They want to be accepted in professional settings. 

When the group echoes what they say and think, they find comfort. 

When comfort is repeated, it turns into emotional appeal and becomes addictive. 

The addiction fortifies the initial belief. It blocks rational thought or evidence. 

In an ever-changing and evolving world, nothing can be more dangerous than closing your mind and forming echo chambers.