PolsXtrems

Exposing yourself to the same information every day is not only – let’s face it – boring, it is also uninspiring, dulls your critical spirit and polarises. When faced with mental doldrums, the inertia of the opinions around you and the temptation to leave your brain in neutral, there is only one way out: Extreme… brain… training.

Come on in and test your critical thinking, curiosity and respect for those who think differently in this high-intensity training routine.

1. How old are you?
   
2. Which gender do you identify with?

• Female

• Male

• Non-binary

• Gender fluid

• I prefer not to answer

3. How do you strengthen your informational muscle?

• Social media 

• Online newspapers

• Television

• Podcasts / YouTube

• Press and/or radio

• I don’t usually stay informed

4. To what extent do you trust the content that algorithms select for you?
   

• A lot: if they’re showing it to me, it must be relevant

• Some: it conditions me more than I would like

• A little: I look at it, but I try to fact-check

• Not at all: I do not consider it a reliable source of information
• I don’t know: I hadn’t thought about it

5. Do you know the values of the influencers you follow?
   

• Yes, they convey very clear values

• The type of content I consume has no values

• I have never thought about it

• I don’t care about their values, only their content

• Depends on the creator

6. How do you resist dubious information?

• None: I just keep scrolling

• I question them and try to fact-check

7. What is your warm-up routine before debating with someone who thinks differently?
   

• I get ready to listen and change my opinion if I am convinced

• I get my thoughts straight and look for data to back up my argument

• I build up my defensive muscles and dodge arguments; I am not one to change my mind

• I avoid confrontations

8. When you listen to other opinions, how flexible are you in changing your own?

• Not at all

• Somewhat

• Fairly
• Very

Kick mental laziness to the curb and jump-start your own judgement!

The human brain is efficient. Too efficient, in fact. It has evolved to save energy, not to seek the truth. Real thinking costs calories, and for millions of years, this energy was needed to react instantly to a threat.

Today, in a world saturated with information, this mechanism has become a trap. We are more attracted to an outrageous headline than to a thought-provoking article. We seek to understand complex issues through simple arguments. We surround ourselves with like-minded people instead of talking to those who contradict us. Or we simply avoid awkward conversations. 

Our brains, quite frankly, have become lazy. We have become passive recipients of information. And this attitude makes us see the world in more rigid, dichotomous blocks: good or bad; us or them; for or against. It is fertile ground for confrontation and toxic polarisation to grow, fuelled by political and commercial interests, and which leads us to belittle those who think differently.

Mental laziness is the default setting. And if we don’t recognise it, we can be manipulated. Despite the inevitable biases of the organizations that conceived it, this gym is an opportunity to break away from that inertia.

What do you trust in most?

• The heart
• The head

Emotions are the brain’s fuel. They activate us, move us, position us and polarise us. We can get carried away by them, and that’s not necessarily a problem, but we have to be careful not to lose perspective and get stuck in a loop. 

Throughout history, emotions have led us to mobilise and defend causes we believe in as a society. As a result of anger and indignation, for example, historic milestones have been achieved, such as women’s suffrage, the abolition of slavery and labour rights.

But emotions can also work in the opposite direction. When they get in the way of analysis and reflection, they can lead us to see adversaries where there is only divergent thinking. We can lose all sense of curiosity and respect for dissenting voices and feel that we have the absolute truth. At this point, emotion no longer accompanies thought: it replaces it. And the conversation becomes a battlefield. 

Many digital platforms take advantage of these patterns and offer you a vicious cycle of dopamine and indignation so that you can’t step away from the fray.

Do you want to channel your emotional energy?

1. Come close to the screen until you see your face framed in the centre.
2. Make a face with one of the following 4 emotions: anger, rejection, surprise or fear.
3. Once the particular emotion has been detected, you will have 20 seconds to discover examples of how that emotion can be channelled positively or negatively.

ANGER

Positive:

• Anger over ETA terrorism led to mass demonstrations against violence.

• Anger at structural racism mobilised 3,000 people in Barcelona’s first anti-racist race in June 2025.
• The outrage in the streets over the case of La Manada meant that, for the first time, media and social attention were focused on making the rapists visible and holding them accountable as criminals, safeguarding the integrity of the victims.

Negative:

• Anger over ETA terrorism translated into demonstrations and speeches against dialogue initiatives to resolve the conflict. 
• In July 2025, anger towards a young man of Moroccan origin led to racist attacks on neighbours of the same origin in Torre Pacheco (Murcia).
• Due to rage and hatred against LGBTQ+ people in one year, cases of physical or verbal homophobic aggressions in Spain have doubled.

REJECTION

Positive:

• In response to the social rejection suffered by homeless people, many associations and foundations run campaigns to defend their rights and dignity, for example, by denouncing hostile architecture.
• The rejection of centralist policies prompted large citizen mobilisations in favour of Catalan independence. At the same time, rejection of the independence process also generated a strong protest movement.

• Faced with the exclusion and criminalisation of the LGBTQ+ collective, in 1977, the Gay Liberation Front of Catalonia organised the first Pride demonstration in Barcelona under the slogan “We are not afraid, we are”.

Negative:

• In certain contexts, the refusal to lose privileges associated with male status feeds anti-feminist discourses that present advances in rights as a threat, generating rejection, misinformation and confrontation between groups.
• Rejection of homeless people, fuelled by stigma and dehumanisation, has led to harassment, aggression and eviction from public spaces in different cities.
• In the context of the Catalan independence process, the rejection of differing ideas led to the growth of toxic polarisation and the use of bellicose language. Terms such as “coup plotters”, “fascists” or “traitors” came to dominate the political debate.

SURPRISE

Positive:

• The shock of the COVID-19 lockdown, caused by a sudden disruption of daily life, activated community responses, public innovation and neighbourhood cooperation and accelerated digitisation, showing unexpected collective resilience.
• The surprise at such a transgressive candidate as Zohran Mamdani generated an unprecedented surge of political participation in New York in 2025, with 2 million voters, the highest number since 1969.
• The shock at the public disclosure of massive cases of sexual abuse (#MeToo movement) triggered a profound cultural transformation: increased reporting, legislative changes, review of institutional protocols and a global conversation about consent, power and accountability.

Negative: 

• Surprise at the pandemic and the unexpected COVID-19 lockdown favoured the rapid acceptance of extraordinary measures of control, surveillance and restriction of rights that, in some cases, generated problematic precedents for civil liberties and institutional trust.
• The surprise of Zohran Mamdani’s success in New York generated a strong reaction from other political sectors, which pointed to him as an Islamic terrorist threat and fuelled smear campaigns.

 FEAR

Positive:

• Fear of the devastating effects of the growing climate crisis has led organisations, civil society and governments to promote initiatives and policies to curb CO₂ emissions.

• The fear of digital vulnerability has generated a more aware and protected society that drives the development of ethical technologies and a culture of privacy that ensures our security online.

Negative:

• The fear of losing one’s own culture and ways of life in contexts of globalisation has reinforced narratives that simplify complexity and legitimise social exclusion.

• Fear of migration flows has fuelled exaggerated perceptions of insecurity and policies that stigmatise sectors of our society. 
• Fear of reprisals or of not being believed means that many victims of gender-based violence do not turn to the authorities or to organisations that could offer them support.
• The fear of terrorist attacks in European cities generated citizen reactions in favour of increased vigilance, stigmatisation of communities and proliferation of hate speech.

No mind is neutral. We think from a very specific place. The family we have grown up in, the job we have, who we have coffee with, what we read, what we fear and what we hope for. All this acts as a filter that anticipates reality.

Cognitive biases are these filters, determined by our emotions, experiences and social and cultural contexts; they are shortcuts that the brain uses to avoid saturation and to decide quickly, even if this often leads to hasty and false conclusions.

How many of the convictions that we defend are the fruit of measured thought and how many are inherited because we do not disengage? Looking a bias in the face does not mean giving anything up. It means knowing when a filter is speaking for you. It is the first step in returning to thinking from the head and the heart, and not just from inertia.

This class allows us to pay full attention to our unconscious biases: if we think of them as bodily poses, they are no longer invisible and are easier to recognise.

Are you ready to become aware of your unconscious biases?

1. Step up to the screen to enjoy a class that will allow you to pay full attention to the main cognitive biases.
2. Follow the instructor’s directions to get into positions that make these biases visible, using your own body.

POSTER POSTURAL BIASES

Silently and without asking permission, algorithms decide what we see on the internet and social media. They learn from every search and every click, giving us back a tailor-made world. It is comfortable, yes. But they also make us think less.

Until these systems are more transparent about what they select and what they leave out, what we can do is question them. It is often seen as a weakness, but experiments in the field of neuroscience show otherwise: in groups that managed to reach agreement on controversial issues, there were always people without a clear position. It is precisely these who helped the group to move towards more common ground.

This is not to say that it is necessary to constantly question everything. It means assuming that the truth is not flat, that it has different faces, angles and stories. It also means reading and listening to the media with a critical spirit, understanding their framing and biases, and opting for those that we think contribute to a more rigorous critique.

What is clear when it comes to information is that speed and truth follow different paths. This piece asks you to slow down, make the effort to get informed and train doubt as a democratic skill.

Sources: Eli Pariser, Mariano Sigman, Jordi Mir.

Dare you break your usual scroll routine?

1. Get on your bike and get ready to ride the 180 metres we scroll every day on social media.
2. Pedal forward to unlock news headlines that explain the same topic in opposite ways.
3. Once you have completed 180 metres, discover your personal best.

Every day, on average, we travel 180 metres of scrolling on our mobile phones. Pedal to travel the same number of metres; this time, making a real effort to get informed. The driving force you generate will unlock headlines told from two opposing points of view.

The progress bar will show you how far you are from the next headline, and the metre counter, the distance to reach 180 metres. Don’t stop pedalling until you get there!

Pedal to start the experience.
And remember: JUST DOUBT IT!

Type 1: Leisure notifications

• 50 METRES
  The distance young people go in 9 minutes of scrolling.
• 100 METRES
  The distance Gen Z has gone before lunchtime.

Type 2: Critical notifications with information infrastructure or behaviours

• Remember: Your feed is not the world. It is a selection made by an algorithm that wants you to keep reading.
• Adding five seconds of doubt is how to stretch after training. Prevent cognitive impairment.
• Did you read that right? 59% share news without reading it.
• Outrage increases virality by up to 20%.
• 64% of people are informed by headlines only.

The locker room

You’ve completed your training! Today, there are fewer and fewer spaces where we meet people who are radically different from us. But they still exist. The changing rooms in a gym are an example. Without the branded clothes, without the labels, we are vulnerable. 

Toxic polarisation is based on seeing the other as an enemy. But if you scratch the surface a little, behind every radical outcry, you often find a very human fear of losing something, such as status or acquired rights, or the fear of not belonging, of loneliness, or of the future. The first step in approaching someone who thinks differently from us is to listen, with curiosity, respect and self-criticism.

Each sentence on the lockers in this room represents a different social conflict. Come closer, open them and listen to two positions on the same issue. Can you see what connects them? 

Locker 1

“Go back to your own country!”

One person feels fear every time they come across a group of young people who have migrated and thinks: “go back to your own country”. When they get home, on their trusted TV channel, they hear that migrants will take their job, and that Moroccan commit the most crimes.

Meanwhile, this same group of migrants is also afraid of how they are viewed. They are afraid they could be reported and end up in a detention centre for foreigners, or deported, for not having papers. It would be saying that all the effort to build a life in Catalonia has been in vain.

Locker 2

“Tourists go home!”

One person believes that tourists and expats are a threat to the future of the city. They see them as one of the main reasons why they can no longer find affordable housing in the neighbourhood and why there are no longer any shops left. They say that tourism is pushing locals out.

Another advocates tourism as a key economic driver for the city. They believe that we must boost tourism to maintain urban competitiveness, employment and international impact. The challenge, in their view, is not to reduce it but to manage it better.

Locker 3

“They should learn Catalan!”

One person is concerned to hear so many people speaking in Spanish all the time. This is confirmed by the statistic that Catalan is spoken less and less. They think that Catalan should be a prerequisite for everyone living in Catalonia.

A Spanish-speaking migrant imagines themselves building their life in Catalonia. They want to learn the language but cannot find free Catalan classes. Not enough courses as reality sets in: they are working without a contract, looking after an elderly lady every day of the week.

Locker 4

“Send the squatters to jail!”

A person, the owner of a rented property, is angry because a family has occupied the flat. Since then, it is a loss, not a profit. News reports say it is a growing phenomenon. 

Another person, with two minors in their care, has been occupying a flat for months. They have a disability that prevents them from working, and the financial support they receive is not enough to cover rent.

Locker 5

“Trans people, keep away!”

A transgender person enters the gym locker room, their body tense. They know that when they take their clothes off, they will feel everyone staring. They have learned to make themselves small, to change quickly. In there, every glance and every silence can be felt.

Another person feels uncomfortable every time they wind up in the changing room at the same time. They believe that the person next to them is of the opposite sex and should go to the other dressing room.

Locker 6
“The veil should be banned!”

One person notices how another looks at her veil with disapproval. She knows that there are people who think she would be freer without a veil, or people who are strange and distant toward her or even reject her for wearing it; she knows it’s much more complex than that and just wants to be left alone.

The person who looks with disapproval does so because they are highly sensitised to the oppressions of patriarchy. They disagree with their mother about a lot of things, but on this point, they know they would agree: the veil is an oppressive element for all women and should be banned.

Notice, printed on the wall:

NOTICE OF RIGHT TO COEXIST

In our facilities, we listen to different points of view. But when an opinion denies the right of others to exist, move or live in freedom, it must be pointed out and stopped.

Respect for human rights marks the limit of the dialogue.

“Slippery when wet” sign
WARNING! Slippery-slope opinions!
If they do not respect human rights, they must be singled out and stopped.

When was the last time a conversation with someone who thought very differently made you change your mind?

• This week
• This month
• This year
• More than a year ago
• I don’t remember
• Never

Segmentation:

How old are you?

1. Under 29
2. Between 30 and 60
3. Over 60

Bathroom data:
Which “they” do you most often use when complaining?

Politicians

Young people

Migrants

The rich

The poor

The pro-independence movement

Those pro-Spain

Tourists

City dwellers

Townies

The elderly

Children

Pets

None

PRESIDENT OF ICIP: Xavier Masllorens Escubós

DIRECTOR OF ICIP: Kristian Herbolzheimer Jeppson

ICIP COORDINATION: Eugènia Riera Casals

PALAU ROBERT COORDINATION: Santi Rifà Sais and Joaquina Torrero Pulgarín

CURATORSHIP, MUSEOGRAPHIC DESIGN AND CONTENT WRITING: Domestic Data Streamers

EXHIBITION NAMING: Letraherida

VISUAL IDENTITY AND GRAPHIC DESIGN: Ignasi Àvila Padró

AUDIOVISUALS: Malena Ibarz, Maria Ródenas, Roger Mitjans, Oriol Catafal

INTERACTIVE PIECE “JUST DOUBT IT”: Inspired by “Polar Bubbles” by Bernat Cuní

PRODUCTION, INSTALLATION AND LIGHTING: Intervento

GRAPHIC PRODUCTION: EGM

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: Pablo Aguiar Molina