The truth is not out there. by oldenglanddry

REAL WORLD EVENT DISCUSSIONS

The truth is not out there.

POSTED BY: OLDENGLANDDRY
UPDATED: Wednesday, September 6, 2006 08:57
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VIEWED: 968
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Tuesday, September 5, 2006 6:56 AM

For these two reasons:

1. Any idiot can start a website that makes outlandish claims and takes them to be great truth (even if there is a seed of truth in the claims, that truth is lost in the tsunami of crap that acompanies them).

2. Because humans are naturally suspsicious people will believe what they want to believe at any given time and so are easy prey to the above mentioned.

Of course, some people are bigger idiots than others, some are more prone to believe what they want than others and some more easily fall prey than others but the basic premis still stands.

Discuss,
And play nice or I will take all your toys away with my "World-wide-web destruto ray" that I have just invented.

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Tuesday, September 5, 2006 7:03 AM

ANTIMASON

why dont you just say whats really on your mind?

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Tuesday, September 5, 2006 7:59 AM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

I'm sure we could all point to MANY websites that seem to promote one sort of outlandish theory or another. One of the dangers of the internet is that, rather than promoting communication that challenges our beliefs it may be allowing people of like minds to cluster and settle even more firmly into their mindset. I wandered into a man-loving-boy type website by accident and there was some strange sh*t posted but it was prolly all very familiar and homey to the habitues.

That's one of the nice things about this website. FF attracts many different kinds of fans- conservatives, neocons, lefties, Dems, libertarians, Xtians. There are other websites- really big ones- that attract a big mix of people but the discussions there are vicious. More heat than light. Even tho we get kind of snarky sometimes, I can honestly say that the talks here HAVE changed my way of thinking.

---------------------------------
Reality sucks. Especially when it contradicts our cherished ideas.

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Tuesday, September 5, 2006 8:27 AM

STORYMARK

I disagree, the truth is out there.

It's just buried under miles and miles of senseless crap.

"I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man should challenge me, I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him."

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Tuesday, September 5, 2006 9:04 AM

RUE

I have a vote and I'm not afraid to use it!

I agree that people will believe what they want to believe, but I don't think it comes from suspicion.

I was thinking about the role of the internet in China the other day. Not knowing what's going on there, I can only speculate. But the government is doing its best to muzzle it, which makes me think the government has some idea the internet contains powerful information.

I personally like to compare news sources over the internet. That would have been very difficult without it. (I have a shortwave, but it isn't the same as the internet.) So as I check out many news sources I can often ferret out what it is a government wants its people to think - not only by chekcing out the text of news releases, but by checking out what ISN'T said in one country, but IS said in another. (If I could make $$ doing it, I would like to be an internet analyst.)

I think the truth is out there, but you have to dig hard and think. Otherwise, you will just settle into a comfy spot that echoes your beliefs.

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Tuesday, September 5, 2006 12:01 PM

KANEMAN

Quote:
Originally posted by rue:

I was thinking about the role of the internet in China the other day.

ROFL...Really? Sucks to be you. Well, it's true.

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Tuesday, September 5, 2006 1:08 PM

RUE

I have a vote and I'm not afraid to use it!

Just because you so obviously lack a thinking problem doesn't mean it's OK to make fun of those who have one.

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Tuesday, September 5, 2006 4:08 PM

DREAMTROVE

The truth is out there. Waaaayyyy out there.

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Wednesday, September 6, 2006 6:21 AM

JONNYQUEST

"Did he just go crazy and fall asleep?"

It seems to me this is the proper place to bring up Ulam's dilemma. As I paraphrase the mathematician's issue it goes there is way too much to know for us to know what is true, what is false or what is even important to know. It's not necessarily that the truth isn't out there (or in here), it's that the sorting process is overwhelming. Some of us use filters toward that end. I might argue that regardless of how we affirm that we have no agendas, we all use filters to make sense of the world around us and those filters define our individual belief system.

So there arises the presumed conflict between science and faith. The "Scientist" says the only truth is that which science proves. Empirical truth. The "Faithful" states that there is truth beyond proof. Spiritual truth. The smart scientist does not deny there may be more; it's just not scientific. The wise faithful does not reject evidence; it is merely a tool to understand our world.

The conflict between the two only becomes mainfest when one attempts to exclude the other as invalid. Truth being such a tricky thing to find empirically, if Ulam is right (and I believe any sentient denizen of the Internets will see that he is), may be quite easy to find if one keeps one's mind open, that is, if we don't reject all avenues out of hand.

I have issues with Caustic Atheists and Vitriolic Fundamentalists alike. It doesn't have to be that way! You'll find me somewhere between the Neo-Platonists and the Theistic Existentialists. I believe Science does its best to explain the physical Universe. But I believe that things exists which cannot be explained merely by science.

"Well, here I am."

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Wednesday, September 6, 2006 6:22 AM

JONNYQUEST

"Did he just go crazy and fall asleep?"

Gorram double post!

"Well, here I am."

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Wednesday, September 6, 2006 7:52 AM

RUE

I have a vote and I'm not afraid to use it!

HEY! That was one of my favorite shows !

(Not to derail. It's nice to hear a new voice. Welcome! And, well ... carry on, then ...)

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Wednesday, September 6, 2006 8:18 AM

KANEMAN

Still ROFL...Yeah, okay...You are SO right...Tell yourself another one. Well, it's true.

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Wednesday, September 6, 2006 8:22 AM

DESKTOPHIPPIE

More animations available at http://desktophippie.googlepages.com

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Wednesday, September 6, 2006 8:28 AM

RUE

I have a vote and I'm not afraid to use it!

The thing about kaneman is that he's so otl. If it wasn't so funny, it'd be sad, really, watching the idiot blindly rant and stumble and swing. See a lotta people on the street like that actually.

Sometimes I just like to get him going again so's I can watch. But, after this, I promise, nothing more to or about the idiot, for this month. I just couldn't resist one last time. Sorry.

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Wednesday, September 6, 2006 8:34 AM

DESKTOPHIPPIE

Hey, poke the troll if you want to. I'm not the thread police. Just a shameless attention seeker showing off her animations

More animations available at http://desktophippie.googlepages.com

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Wednesday, September 6, 2006 8:48 AM

RUE

I have a vote and I'm not afraid to use it!

Well, you're right. And if everyone ignores the trolls and they go away, it does make the threads so much more hospitable to a larger audience. I just couldn't resist. :hangs head in shame:

And -AWESOME animations! No wonder you want to show them off!

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Wednesday, September 6, 2006 8:57 AM

DESKTOPHIPPIE

*feels awesome*

Getting back on topic, this is a very good point. People tend to believe what they read, they just assume it's the truth. I ~still~ remember the surprise when I read in a newspaper that Holly Valance (Aussie singer I think) was supposed to be taking over the role of Buffy since SMG was leaving. I didn't believe the story for a second, and the paper was one of those daft tabloids, but I still couldn't believe that they'd actually print a massive artcicle on something so obviously made up. I thought there had to be at least something, however misguided and skewed, to a story in order for it to be published. Really made me critical of everything I read and saw after that.

And it's true - any idiot can create a website. And anyone researching anything these days just assumes that anything they find through google must be true. I've even heard of people basing college essays on websites their professors later had to explain had flawed information.

More animations available at http://desktophippie.googlepages.com

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