Polarization as a tool for control

Okay, we've said it over and over: society is more and more polarized. Polarized on every issue you can think of: politics, conflicts, health care, the environment, food, education, the economy. 

But why is this happening? Here's the mechanism I see.
The world is complex by its very nature, very complex. You can see it in the cultural path humans have traveled over time to explain nature itself: animism, elaborate religions, sophisticated philosophical systems, scientific research. Globalization, on a number of levels, has made people's sense of confusion and helplessness even worse. Most of them, unable to cope with the growing level of complexity, wait for explanations they can understand and cling to.
Someone (politicians and compliant media) sees in this picture a new opportunity to control the masses. So they hand out simplified interpretations, often bordering on the childish, that anyone can follow, a bit like Mickey Mouse stories.

Okay, but why two poles?
Especially in societies already inclined to accept demiurgic frameworks (the old bearded man who made everything in a week, Judgment Day, and so on) or Manichean ones (soul vs. body, heaven vs. hell, saints vs. sinners, and the like), the dumbed-down theories that get served up tend to take, precisely, a polarized shape. And just like that, version 2.0 of "Divide et impera" (divide and conquer) is served. 

It's an irresponsible attitude: selfishly irresponsible on the part of those who dish out these explanations, and cowardly irresponsible on the part of those who swallow them. 

The irresponsibility, in both cases, is extremely serious, because it moves us onto a virtual plane where real issues get shifted over and warped in their attributes, properties, and workings. It's like making policy based on a sci-fi saga.

It's an extremely dangerous game, and more and more people are playing it, at every level. The consequences could be unpredictable and catastrophic. I hear very few people of note, whether politicians, journalists, analysts, or intellectuals, voicing concern about this drift. 

Honestly, it gives me chills.

Drafted from Italian with Blog Translator, then revised by me.