Fear, paranoia, and negativity.

Resonator Wed Jan 13, 2021 4:18 am

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Post n°1

Fear, paranoia, and negativity.

Resonator Wed Jan 13, 2021 4:18 am

Many thought the 21st century would be an age of enlightenment, when people would finally rise out of ignorance and embrace rationality in open awareness - but instead it has become a time of ignorance, of conspiracy theories, of denial and distrust. How could this be?

It turns out that the afflictions that have currently come to flower so strongly have deep roots from ages past - it's all cut from the same cloth of fear, paranoia, bigotry and prejudice:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/the-far-right-s-lizard-people-conspiracy-has-a-surprisingly-dark-origin-story/ar-BB1cG3Ju?ocid=msedgntp

Thunder Bow Wed Jan 13, 2021 6:38 pm

Thunder Bow

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Post n°2

Re: Fear, paranoia, and negativity.

Thunder Bow Wed Jan 13, 2021 6:38 pm

Hillary is a shape shifting reptilian and has a Mother Ship hiding behind our moon. Her Mother Ship is emitting 5G mind control rays that changes Trump votes to Biden votes in all voting machines.

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ameliorate Wed Jan 13, 2021 7:30 pm

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Post n°3

Re: Fear, paranoia, and negativity.

ameliorate Wed Jan 13, 2021 7:30 pm

Let's not overlook the influencing power of the internet in this topic - people have been given a voice that has been unprecedented.

Resonator Thu Jan 14, 2021 1:10 am

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Post n°4

Re: Fear, paranoia, and negativity.

Resonator Thu Jan 14, 2021 1:10 am

ameliorate wrote:Let's not overlook the influencing power of the internet in this topic - people have been given a voice that has been unprecedented.

Yes, people have - and anyone else who wants to 'voice' an opinion, which then often creates the appearance of consensus...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_web_brigades

There are others as well. Many others.

Personally, I don't believe anything I read on the internet without checking it out first. And yes, that includes claims about space aliens, lizard people, satanic child torture groups, vaccines, etc..

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ameliorate Thu Jan 14, 2021 10:49 am

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Post n°5

Re: Fear, paranoia, and negativity.

ameliorate Thu Jan 14, 2021 10:49 am

Resonator wrote:

ameliorate wrote:Let's not overlook the influencing power of the internet in this topic - people have been given a voice that has been unprecedented.

Yes, people have - and anyone else who wants to 'voice' an opinion, which then often creates the appearance of consensus...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_web_brigades

There are others as well. Many others.

Personally, I don't believe anything I read on the internet without checking it out first. And yes, that includes claims about space aliens, lizard people, satanic child torture groups, vaccines, etc..

Checking it out on the internet?

Resonator Thu Jan 14, 2021 2:36 pm

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Post n°6

Re: Fear, paranoia, and negativity.

Resonator Thu Jan 14, 2021 2:36 pm

ameliorate wrote:Checking it out on the internet?

Yes, that too.

It is very often not that hard to search the internet and readily validate or invalidate a view or statement. Those who wish to sow distrust and confusion would have us think otherwise, but really researching something on the internet is just an extension of the existential question of validation from our five senses in our normal perception.

A lot of it comes down to if the person saying something is qualified to have that opinion, and if others also qualified to have that opinion agree with him.

For example, with my link above, the NSA, the CIA, the FBI and the Director of National Intelligence (who oversees 13 other intelligence agencies) all agree that the Russian web brigades exist, that they interfered in the 2016 election, and they continue to be a threat to America. Additionally, the Wikipedia article is full of references. That's a lot of validation.

On the other hand, these people who claim space aliens and lizard people rule the world - who are you again? How much money did you make off your latest conspiracy theory book? How much do you charge for a public appearance? Can you actually show me a space alien or a lizard man? Have you ever even seen one yourself?

It's pretty easy - as long as you haven't already been poisoned into distrusting actual authorities, because that is propaganda goal number ONE, for obvious reasons.

ameliorate Thu Jan 14, 2021 3:44 pm

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Post n°7

Re: Fear, paranoia, and negativity.

ameliorate Thu Jan 14, 2021 3:44 pm

Resonator wrote:

ameliorate wrote:Checking it out on the internet?

Yes, that too.

It is very often not that hard to search the internet and readily validate or invalidate a view or statement. Those who wish to sow distrust and confusion would have us think otherwise, but really researching something on the internet is just an extension of the existential question of validation from our five senses in our normal perception.

A lot of it comes down to if the person saying something is qualified to have that opinion, and if others also qualified to have that opinion agree with him.

For example, with my link above, the NSA, the CIA, the FBI and the Director of National Intelligence (who oversees 13 other intelligence agencies) all agree that the Russian web brigades exist, that they interfered in the 2016 election, and they continue to be a threat to America. Additionally, the Wikipedia article is full of references. That's a lot of validation.

On the other hand, these people who claim space aliens and lizard people rule the world - who are you again? How much money did you make off your latest conspiracy theory book? How much do you charge for a public appearance? Can you actually show me a space alien or a lizard man? Have you ever even seen one yourself?

It's pretty easy - as long as you haven't already been poisoned into distrusting actual authorities, because that is propaganda goal number ONE, for obvious reasons.

I'm VERY surprised that you cite Wikipedia as being a valid source of reference! Don't you know that anyone can edit it?

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Resonator Fri Jan 15, 2021 2:36 pm

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Post n°8

Re: Fear, paranoia, and negativity.

Resonator Fri Jan 15, 2021 2:36 pm

ameliorate wrote:I'm VERY surprised that you cite Wikipedia as being a valid source of reference! Don't you know that anyone can edit it?

That is a very good question. I'm glad you brought it up.

First off, is it true that anyone can edit Wikipedia? Yes it is. That's the whole idea of a Wikipedia. And if you just stop there it does sound like a very sketchy idea - but there is actually a lot more to the process. So, once again, just like any other aspect of the internet or life itself, a deeper look is required.

When you do, you find that it's actually not quite true that 'anybody' can edit Wikipedia. Though you can input an edit, at the very least your IP address is recorded (they can block you) but there is a registration and validation process anyone with any real hopes of contributing must go through, and then it gets involved, because the people who contribute to Wikipedia tend to be groups of regulars who not only write the entries but also check each others work. Any edits are immediately reported to the team who then go about authenticating and approving - or reversing - any changes.

Once you're in there are a few policies and guidelines you need to learn:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Policies_and_guidelines#

Number one, however, of the 'five pillars' of Wikipedia is 'Verifiability':
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability

As you are reading a Wikipedia entry you will notice superscript numbers behind every substantive statement. If you click on one of those numbers, or scroll to the bottom of the page, there you will find the REFERENCE for that statement. It is rule number ONE on Wikipedia that every fact presented must be verifiable - and THAT is what makes Wikipedia a reliable source of information.

So yes, a lot of people have the attitude that Wikipedia is unreliable or worse, but once again I don't listen to whatever anybody tells me on the internet, and yes I have every confidence in Wikipedia, because I looked into it myself.

ameliorate Fri Jan 15, 2021 2:47 pm

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Post n°9

Re: Fear, paranoia, and negativity.

ameliorate Fri Jan 15, 2021 2:47 pm

Resonator wrote:

ameliorate wrote:I'm VERY surprised that you cite Wikipedia as being a valid source of reference! Don't you know that anyone can edit it?

That is a very good question. I'm glad you brought it up.

First off, is it true that anyone can edit Wikipedia? Yes it is. That's the whole idea of a Wikipedia. And if you just stop there it does sound like a very sketchy idea - but there is actually a lot more to the process. So, once again, just like any other aspect of the internet or life itself, a deeper look is required.

When you do, you find that it's actually not quite true that 'anybody' can edit Wikipedia. Though you can input an edit, at the very least your IP address is recorded (they can block you) but there is a registration and validation process anyone with any real hopes of contributing must go through, and then it gets involved, because the people who contribute to Wikipedia tend to be groups of regulars who not only write the entries but also check each others work. Any edits are immediately reported to the team who then go about authenticating and approving - or reversing - any changes.

Once you're in there are a few policies and guidelines you need to learn:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Policies_and_guidelines#

Number one, however, of the 'five pillars' of Wikipedia is 'Verifiability':
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability

As you are reading a Wikipedia entry you will notice superscript numbers behind every substantive statement. If you click on one of those numbers, or scroll to the bottom of the page, there you will find the REFERENCE for that statement. It is rule number ONE on Wikipedia that every fact presented must be verifiable - and THAT is what makes Wikipedia a reliable source of information.

So yes, a lot of people have the attitude that Wikipedia is unreliable or worse, but once again I don't listen to whatever anybody tells me on the internet, and yes I have every confidence in Wikipedia, because I looked into it myself.

I appreciate that you have thoroughly looked into this and believe what you are told by them, however I recall a celebrity mentioning that a fact was wrong on him in Wikipedia (i.e. falsely edited) but that he hadn't bothered to correct this. So, apparently not as foolproof/watertight as they would have you believe maybe?

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Resonator Sat Jan 16, 2021 12:30 am

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Post n°10

Re: Fear, paranoia, and negativity.

Resonator Sat Jan 16, 2021 12:30 am

ameliorate wrote:I appreciate that you have thoroughly looked into this and believe what you are told by them, however I recall a celebrity mentioning that a fact was wrong on him in Wikipedia (i.e. falsely edited) but that he hadn't bothered to correct this. So, apparently not as foolproof/watertight as they would have you believe maybe?

The truth is I have to be extra vigilant because I am very lazy. :blush:

I want a resource that I can trust utterly that I can go to and just get answers that I don't have to think about. That's really what I want. Unfortunately, too many times in the past I have been stung when I had faith in a resource and then something was shown to be untrue. Even if 99.9% of the other info was true, something sooner or later always eventually popped up that was challenged, because, well, life.

So, I have had to simply face the fact that any thing at any time could be misstated or outright false - and this is why I value Wikipedia's rule about verification. It HAS to show where they got that fact from - and that's important, even if the resource is later shown to be incorrect. Especially if later it is shown to be incorrect.

Because people can say anything at any time. Anybody can even say anything about Wikipedia at any time - and do you really know if their claim is true, or where they got it?

It's nice to be able to just click a link and know for certain where something came from. In fact, in this day and age, that's solid gold, IMO.

ameliorate Sat Jan 16, 2021 10:32 am

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Post n°11

Re: Fear, paranoia, and negativity.

ameliorate Sat Jan 16, 2021 10:32 am

Yes people can say anything at any time but, given that the celebrity said the error in Wikipedia was about their life, then that gives the matter some credence! Why would someone lie about that? He even said what the error was (which I have now forgotten!)

I didn't know that Wikipedia has to provide a reference for each edit - that is encouraging.

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Resonator Sat Jan 16, 2021 3:22 pm

Resonator

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Post n°12

Re: Fear, paranoia, and negativity.

Resonator Sat Jan 16, 2021 3:22 pm

ameliorate wrote:Yes people can say anything at any time but, given that the celebrity said the error in Wikipedia was about their life, then that gives the matter some credence! Why would someone lie about that? He even said what the error was (which I have now forgotten!)

Sometimes things are just gotten wrong.

Sadly, we wouldn't even be having this conversation if there weren't people who put just as much energy into misinformation as others do into genuine information. Sometimes people are intentionally misleading.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misinformation

It's easy to tell just who is who, with just the smallest bit of discernment. The real information sources will tell you the information. The false sources will tell you what to think about the information - and also spare no effort at delegitimizing the real information sources.

I don't like being manipulated, myself - but it seems to be quite popular now with a lot of people, for whatever reason.

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ameliorate Sat Jan 16, 2021 4:10 pm

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Post n°13

Re: Fear, paranoia, and negativity.

ameliorate Sat Jan 16, 2021 4:10 pm

When it comes to news, every country has a bias/angle doesn't it? Hard to get an objective appraisal of an ongoing situation. Here are some links that, if you don't already have/know about, might interest you.

https://www.globalresearch.ca/
on globalisation - has independent research organisations + media writers, non-profit

https://therealnews.com/

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Resonator Sat Jan 16, 2021 9:10 pm

Resonator

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Post n°14

Re: Fear, paranoia, and negativity.

Resonator Sat Jan 16, 2021 9:10 pm

ameliorate wrote:When it comes to news, every country has a bias/angle doesn't it? Hard to get an objective appraisal of an ongoing situation...

Absolutely agree. I am speaking of what Journalism used to be - of what it should be:

https://ethicaljournalismnetwork.org/who-we-are/5-principles-of-journalism#

News today isn't focused on information, but instead is focused on affirmation. Even the MSM has been forced to inject opinion into it's reports because that's what people want. This is proven because that's what sells, what gets the highest ratings. For example, Fox News was founded explicitly as a "Republican centered alternative to CNN", and went on to become the most popular cable news network, as they often like to remind people. Turns out people WANT to hear what they want to hear! Who knew? CNN in response has been forced to alter their tone just to be seen as not boring or afraid to take a stand. Unfortunately for them, the truth has a decidedly liberal bias.

The bottom line is people like to be told what to think - especially to be told they don't like being told what to think. They fall for that one every time - and then they wonder why the world seems full of fear, paranoia, and negativity.

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Fear, paranoia, and negativity.