Comments on: Uninformed Americans http://www.erik-rasmussen.com/blog/2006/07/28/uninformed-americans/ Thoughts and photos from an American living in Spain. Fri, 05 Dec 2008 10:39:40 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc By: erik http://www.erik-rasmussen.com/blog/2006/07/28/uninformed-americans/#comment-73 erik Sun, 30 Jul 2006 09:31:53 +0000 http://www.erik-rasmussen.com/blog/2006/07/28/uninformed-americans/#comment-73 I posted this blog entry as a story on <a href="http://www.kuro5hin.org" rel="nofollow">kuro5hin.org</a>. It got voted down, but while the voting was taking place, I got some interesting comments. The best, of which, was <a href="http://www.kuro5hin.org/comments/2006/7/28/51646/5918/24#24" rel="nofollow">this one</a> by a fellow that apparently using carriage returns to separate sentences rather than periods. I will reproduce the content of the comment here: --- ever hear of yellow journalism? by circletimessquare on Fri Jul 28, 2006 at 03:43:40 PM CET -- this is from the mid 1850s it's exactly like today you have historical myopia if you think things are "getting worse" no: media bias is not getting worse, and media bias is not getting better. it just IS! it's static across all time, all nations, all cultures, and won't ever go away the war of 1898 was started when the uss maine was sunk in havana under dubious conditions, and newspapers in new york basically manufactured nationalist outrage to declare war on spain i'm certain some media scholar could find an example of something just like this in the 1700s, the 1600s, the 1500s, etc... in every country in every era i fully expect my great grandchildren to be reading in the year 2152 about the dastardly deeds of vanuatu and why palau should declare war on them... and it's all horseshit mind manipulation dude: none of this shit is new, welcome to the human condition it's not depressing, it's just reality are you depressed you have to sit on a porcelain throne every day and create feces? i am, it sucks do i get depressed about it? no, it's just reality, what is my emotional reaction supposed to result in? so don't be depressed! it's not like this shit doesn't have an antidote: deal with it by fighting for people's hearts and minds as you see they should be fought for, just as partisans always have i am a partisan so are you admit your own lack of impartiality, set yourself free of the contraints that you somehow fight for "The Truth" (tm) bullshit! you have your beliefs, fight for them! don't depend upon some magic impartial media to fight for your beliefs for you! don't depend upon some mirage of media impartiality that never was and never will be and don't think you yourself are beyond taint none of us are fight for your beliefs, and don't depend upon fantasies of some impartial arbiter of truth out there, espcieally not something that would come from a governmental body! (where else would this "impartial" arbiter of media "neutrality" come from?) you don't even realize it, but what oyu are arguing for is something like china, or iran, where governmental bodies created to preserve media "impartialty" exist and you KNOW what that really is! it's called censorship humankind is a big shit pile of random voices the way to arrive at a better world is to let all of it speak, unimpeded and unhindered a giant darwinistic competition of ideas that is how "truth" is arrived at I posted this blog entry as a story on kuro5hin.org. It got voted down, but while the voting was taking place, I got some interesting comments. The best, of which, was this one by a fellow that apparently using carriage returns to separate sentences rather than periods. I will reproduce the content of the comment here:

—
ever hear of yellow journalism?
by circletimessquare on Fri Jul 28, 2006 at 03:43:40 PM CET
–
this is from the mid 1850s

it’s exactly like today

you have historical myopia if you think things are “getting worse”

no: media bias is not getting worse, and media bias is not getting better. it just IS! it’s static across all time, all nations, all cultures, and won’t ever go away

the war of 1898 was started when the uss maine was sunk in havana under dubious conditions, and newspapers in new york basically manufactured nationalist outrage to declare war on spain

i’m certain some media scholar could find an example of something just like this in the 1700s, the 1600s, the 1500s, etc…

in every country

in every era

i fully expect my great grandchildren to be reading in the year 2152 about the dastardly deeds of vanuatu and why palau should declare war on them… and it’s all horseshit mind manipulation

dude: none of this shit is new, welcome to the human condition

it’s not depressing, it’s just reality

are you depressed you have to sit on a porcelain throne every day and create feces?

i am, it sucks

do i get depressed about it? no, it’s just reality, what is my emotional reaction supposed to result in?

so don’t be depressed!

it’s not like this shit doesn’t have an antidote: deal with it by fighting for people’s hearts and minds as you see they should be fought for, just as partisans always have

i am a partisan

so are you

admit your own lack of impartiality, set yourself free of the contraints that you somehow fight for “The Truth” ™

bullshit! you have your beliefs, fight for them! don’t depend upon some magic impartial media to fight for your beliefs for you!

don’t depend upon some mirage of media impartiality that never was and never will be

and don’t think you yourself are beyond taint

none of us are

fight for your beliefs, and don’t depend upon fantasies of some impartial arbiter of truth out there, espcieally not something that would come from a governmental body! (where else would this “impartial” arbiter of media “neutrality” come from?)

you don’t even realize it, but what oyu are arguing for is something like china, or iran, where governmental bodies created to preserve media “impartialty” exist

and you KNOW what that really is!

it’s called censorship

humankind is a big shit pile of random voices

the way to arrive at a better world is to let all of it speak, unimpeded and unhindered

a giant darwinistic competition of ideas

that is how “truth” is arrived at

]]> By: Paul http://www.erik-rasmussen.com/blog/2006/07/28/uninformed-americans/#comment-69 Paul Fri, 28 Jul 2006 13:18:19 +0000 http://www.erik-rasmussen.com/blog/2006/07/28/uninformed-americans/#comment-69 I don't want to exonerate the journalists, but I think you are putting too much on their shoulders. Accepting things you hear over and over again as factual is tempting. Only critical thinking skills combat this. What happened to American critical thinking? Fundamentalist regligion didn't help. Many a 10 year old has been told "You are asking too many questions. Eventually, you just have to decide if you believe or you don't." It turns out that true faith requires abandoning critical thinking. I remember when "truth in advertising" was law. TV commercials could no longer tell you things that couldn't be supported by facts. My guess is that few Americans know there is no truth in advertising law anymore. I wouldn't be surprised if a poll showed that 35% of Americans think that geico lizards can talk. A democracy is only as good as the critical thinking skills of its people. I don’t want to exonerate the journalists, but I think you are putting too much on their shoulders. Accepting things you hear over and over again as factual is tempting. Only critical thinking skills combat this. What happened to American critical thinking?

Fundamentalist regligion didn’t help. Many a 10 year old has been told “You are asking too many questions. Eventually, you just have to decide if you believe or you don’t.” It turns out that true faith requires abandoning critical thinking.

I remember when “truth in advertising” was law. TV commercials could no longer tell you things that couldn’t be supported by facts. My guess is that few Americans know there is no truth in advertising law anymore. I wouldn’t be surprised if a poll showed that 35% of Americans think that geico lizards can talk.

A democracy is only as good as the critical thinking skills of its people.

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