It's incredible how much social dynamics help to create perceptions of reality. And social dynamics are informed by everything from coincidence to geography. In Europe at present, everyone lives way too close to one another to build up false and irrational views of their neighbors. Sure there are slums outside Paris and stark divisions between ethnic groups in countries like Spain or Greece, but in the United States, half of our population lives in 146 counties tightly clustered together around America's largest cities.

Those numbers prove that the red state v blue state divide is much starker than we might have ever realized.

It shows us that half of all U.S. citizens almost never experience people outside their racial, ethnic, or cultural perspective, and when we do, it's rarely socially.

I've always thought that access to different people, places, & experiences was the most direct route to understanding.

This information makes that undeniable.