Wednesday Morning Rant

Don't Look It Up

As a child, a common refrain I heard from both parents and teachers was, "go look it up." This was a favorite of my dad's. If I went to him with a question about something I could look up, he'd give me a pointer or two about how to look it up and then send me on my way. If I still had questions, we'd go into it in greater detail. The first step, though, was always to go look it up. This was the norm. If I wanted to know it, I had to go find it out.

But what happens when trying to find out at all is framed as a social ill? Fellow Moron Anonosaurus Wrecks turned me on to an article published in Forbes last week as part of an effort to make "go look it up" an act of subversion. It's about a new paper written by a man called Kevin Aslett and published in Nature - a journal that long ago entered the skin suit phase of its existence - that asserts that the phenomenon of "doing your own research" is bad for Our Democracy(tm) because you might encounter "misinformation" and believe "fake news."

Following a series of experiments, a team of U.S. researchers found that study participants were consistently 19% more likely to believe "fake news" after they had performed an online search to figure out the truth.
That's important, the experts say, because the prevalence and success of such misinformation poses a direct threat to democracy.

Always with the "threat to democracy." These people need a new record because theirs is clearly broken. But what is "misinformation?" What is "fake news?" Misinformation - or disinformation or the new-fangled "malinformation" - is whatever the power class doesn't like. It can be true or false, helpful or malicious, meaningful or meaningless. There are no standards other than, "we don't like it."

But what of the dangers? It's dangerous right? That is the basis of the argument, of course:

"In terms of political consequences, increased belief in misinformation has the potential to increase political cynicism and apathy towards politics, lower trust in reliable media sources, increase polarization [and] motivate political violence," Aslett tells me. He references the events of January 6, 2021, in which a mob attacked the United States Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., saying "these consequences weaken democracy."
Misinformed beliefs can also threaten public health, such as in the case of vaccine misinformation, or be used by powerful interest groups to manipulate public sentiment against climate action measures, such as the development of renewable energy projects.

It can't possibly be the intellectual, political, media and other groups' long track record of deceit, arrogance and contempt that increased cynicism and apathy while decreasing trust. No, it had to be that dastardly misinformation!

It's also, of course, due to bad actors and unsophisticated search methods with search engines that aren't adequately tuned to prevent the spread of misinformation:

But search algorithms are not designed to prioritize accurate information - rather, they prioritize information designed to appeal to or exploit those algorithms. The authors of the study note that the right-wing conspiracist QAnon movement "recommends that people 'do the research' themselves, which seems like a counter-intuitive strategy for a conspiracy-theory-oriented movement. However, our findings suggest that the strategy of pushing people to verify low-quality information online might paradoxically be even more effective at misinforming them."

You can see where this is going. This is more battlespace preparation for the next round in the censorship war. Until the government can ride to the rescue through censorship, though, Forbes has some advice for you: you should trust your betters in academia.

For the time being, then, the best option for people interested in staying informed might be to check out out a digital literacy course, such as Stanford's Civic Online Reasoning program.

This sounds a lot like the paper MIT published in 2021 on the "anti-maskers" and the dangers they pose - not because they are incompetent or unsophisticated, but because they don't believe the narrative and reject their betters:

While academic science is traditionally a system for producing knowledge within a laboratory, validating it through peer review, and sharing results within subsidiary communities, anti-maskers reject this hierarchical social model. They espouse a vision of science that is radically egalitarian and individualist. This study forces us to see that coronavirus skeptics champion science as a personal practice that prizes rationality and autonomy; for them, it is not a body of knowledge certified by an institution of experts. Calls for data or scientific literacy therefore risk recapitulating narratives that anti-mask views are the product of individual ignorance rather than coordinated information campaigns that rely heavily on networked participation.

This is the same argument, even if it doesn't look like it. Both MIT and this Aslett character have arrived at the same conclusion: to maintain the narrative, the powers that be need to forbid alternatives. "Misinformation" is so risky that it's best to never leave the reservation. The risks of getting bad information are simply too great, so we must censor. If you "go look it up," you must see only "approved" sources.

But it's best if you don't look it up at all.

Posted by: Joe Mannix at 11:00 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Morning.

Posted by: Robert at December 27, 2023 11:00 AM (1Yy3c)

2 a Rake

Posted by: Ciampino - Don't know the caliber of the punch at December 27, 2023 11:00 AM (qfLjt)

3 st!

Posted by: RedMindBlueState at December 27, 2023 11:00 AM (jA9ul)

4 *kicks rock*

I coulda been a contender...

Posted by: RedMindBlueState at December 27, 2023 11:01 AM (jA9ul)

5 SPONGE!

Posted by: William Jefferson Clinton at December 27, 2023 11:02 AM (53oGX)

6 off pre-Christmas sock...

Posted by: Inogame at December 27, 2023 11:02 AM (53oGX)

7 Mom bought us kids a set of encyclopedias when I was about 6...had to wash my hands to look at 'em.

Posted by: BignJames at December 27, 2023 11:03 AM (AwYPR)

8 off pre-Christmas sock...
Posted by: Inogame at December 27, 2023 11:02 AM (53oGX)
++++
Yeah, it was probably starting to get pretty crusty.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at December 27, 2023 11:03 AM (zxP/x)

9 Just got in from shopping; just missed it.

Posted by: andycanuck (2yu8s) at December 27, 2023 11:03 AM (2yu8s)

10 Can someone tell me when Poland declared war on Germany? Try this as a query on Goolag and find no answer.

Posted by: Pudinhead at December 27, 2023 11:03 AM (pZ64F)

11 A “threat to democracy”. Well, we had the German Democratic Republic. And Maoist China was a “people’s democracy”. Right?

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at December 27, 2023 11:03 AM (Q9bls)

12 Mom bought us kids a set of encyclopedias when I was about 6...had to wash my hands to look at 'em.
Posted by: BignJames at December 27, 2023 11:03 AM (AwYPR)
++++
Part of me thinks that my dad's "go look it up" default setting was to make sure the family got its money's worth for the encyclopedia

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at December 27, 2023 11:04 AM (zxP/x)

13 TWELFTH!!!

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at December 27, 2023 11:04 AM (Q9bls)

14 hiya

Posted by: JT at December 27, 2023 11:04 AM (T4tVD)

15 Go look it up!
Hell in my house it was first: Ask you father, shortly followed by Ask your mother. Only then did it become encyclopedia time.

Posted by: Diogenes at December 27, 2023 11:04 AM (W/lyH)

16 7 Mom bought us kids a set of encyclopedias when I was about 6...had to wash my hands to look at 'em.
----------------
I wished I'd have kept my late 60's encyclopedia.

Posted by: Pudinhead at December 27, 2023 11:04 AM (pZ64F)

17 that asserts that the phenomenon of "doing your own research" is bad for Our Democracy(tm) because you might encounter "misinformation" and believe "fake news."

Why is this suddenly a bad thing? Democrats have been believing fake news for a hundred years.

Posted by: rickb223 at December 27, 2023 11:04 AM (NeGkf)

18 Kevin Aslett is like every Leftist in the world. More shitty projection than a Houthi ballistic missile.

Posted by: Drive by at December 27, 2023 11:04 AM (MNhXM)

19 Comedian Jimmy Dore, on this idiocy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srmutIwuC4Q

Posted by: Taq, Rickrolled by Jesus at December 27, 2023 11:05 AM (/QIWP)

20 "But search algorithms are not designed to prioritize accurate information - rather, they prioritize information designed to appeal to or exploit those algorithms."
Posted by: Joe Mannix

I'm sure this is correct because if I search with Bing, Google, Edge, or DDG I get completely different findings than if I use Vivaldi or, my favorite, Brave.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at December 27, 2023 11:05 AM (DlMmC)

21 "I accept Claudine Gay as my moral, research, and educational superior in all areas of endeavour"

Is that good enough?

Posted by: Kindltot - Thought Prevention Specialist, evening shift at December 27, 2023 11:05 AM (D7oie)

22 Yeah, it was probably starting to get pretty crusty.
Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at December 27, 2023 11:03 AM (zxP/x)

That sock in particular... don't know where it's been...

Posted by: Inogame at December 27, 2023 11:05 AM (53oGX)

23 Nods sagely.

Posted by: George Orwell at December 27, 2023 11:05 AM (NBVIP)

24 >>For the time being, then, the best option for people interested in staying informed might be to check out out a digital literacy course, such as Stanford's Civic Online Reasoning program.

LOVE this /sarc. Kids for generations have been taught reading comprehension, reasoning skills, and how to form effective arguments as well as being exposed to all sorts of hard sciences and literature from which they can adequately distill vital information from various sources. Well, until recently.
If you want people to be discriminating news/information consumers, the last thing they need is a Stanford course on it -- if you haven't learned how to do this by 18 you've been screwed by your education.

Posted by: Lizzy at December 27, 2023 11:06 AM (izj35)

25 You'll be punished for having a mind of your own, comrade.

I would have never thought that would become a reality in America.

Posted by: Archer at December 27, 2023 11:06 AM (gmo/4)

26 Commenting present

Posted by: Skip at December 27, 2023 11:06 AM (O6uDo)

27 "I accept Claudine Gay as my moral, research, and educational superior in all areas of endeavour"

Is that good enough?
Posted by: Kindltot - Thought Prevention Specialist, evening shift at December 27, 2023 11:05 AM (D7oie)
++++
For now. Give it a week, though, and it won't be.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at December 27, 2023 11:06 AM (zxP/x)

28 Can someone tell me when Poland declared war on Germany? Try this as a query on Goolag and find no answer.
Posted by: Pudinhead

Looks like by the time Poland could declare war on Germany, they, as a functioning country, couldn't.

Posted by: rickb223 at December 27, 2023 11:06 AM (NeGkf)

29 20 "But search algorithms are not designed to prioritize accurate information - rather, they prioritize information designed to appeal to or exploit those algorithms."
Posted by: Joe Mannix

I'm sure this is correct because if I search with Bing, Google, Edge, or DDG I get completely different findings than if I use Vivaldi or, my favorite, Brave.
Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at December 27, 2023 11:05 AM (DlMmC)

Brave is great unless I want to actually buy something.
Unfortunately, the captured searches are still best if I'm looking to actually be sold something.

Posted by: Inogame at December 27, 2023 11:06 AM (53oGX)

30 Why is this suddenly a bad thing? Democrats have been believing fake news for a hundred years.
Posted by: rickb223 at December 27, 2023 11:04 AM (NeGkf)

The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they’re ignorant; it’s just that they know so much that isn’t so. —RR

Posted by: Drive by at December 27, 2023 11:07 AM (MNhXM)

31 ..-. .. ... - !!!

Posted by: chinese vibrating anal beads at December 27, 2023 11:08 AM (2yu8s)

32 Comedian Jimmy Dore, on this idiocy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srmutIwuC4Q
Posted by: Taq, Rickrolled by Jesus at December 27, 2023 11:05 AM (/QIWP)
++++
New to me.

And yeah. More or less.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at December 27, 2023 11:08 AM (zxP/x)

33 I'm here because I'm finishing the last of a stupid workplace video. Fortunately, I'll be around tomorrow for Ace's 20th anniversary. I wish I could remember when I started lurking here; I only know I'm not a 'lifer.'

He references the events of January 6, 2021, in which a mob attacked the United States Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., saying "these consequences weaken democracy."

And right there, this nickelfucker has thrown any credibility out the window. An intelligent person would ask "who calls it a mob?" "what, particularly, was attacked?" "who were the forces behind it?" As we here know, the only way to find out the answers to those questions is to specifically seek out 'alternative' sources. That Aslett hasn't made the barest attempt to underpin his opinion with facts makes anything he has to say not just imbecilic, but dangerous. Men like him are little Satans who cannot bear mockery or contradiction.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at December 27, 2023 11:08 AM (Q0kLU)

34 For now. Give it a week, though, and it won't be.
Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at December 27, 2023 11:06 AM (zxP/x)

You mean . . . We have always been at war with EastAsia?

Posted by: Kindltot - Thought Prevention Specialist, evening shift at December 27, 2023 11:08 AM (D7oie)

35 Looks like by the time Poland could declare war on Germany, they, as a functioning country, couldn't.
-------------
I am not sure that is the correct answer.

Posted by: Pudinhead at December 27, 2023 11:08 AM (pZ64F)

36 Brave is great unless I want to actually buy something.
Unfortunately, the captured searches are still best if I'm looking to actually be sold something.
Posted by: Inogame

Include 'price' in your search string maybe?

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at December 27, 2023 11:08 AM (DlMmC)

37 Dihydrogen Monoxide is nasty stuff. Killer, even. Look it up!

Posted by: Count de Monet at December 27, 2023 11:09 AM (4I/2K)

38 Kevin Aslett has a PhD. in a bullshit field, political science, from a cow kollidge in Washington. Why should i not regard him as a Commie?

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at December 27, 2023 11:09 AM (tkR6S)

39 You mean . . . We have always been at war with EastAsia?
Posted by: Kindltot - Thought Prevention Specialist, evening shift at December 27, 2023 11:08 AM (D7oie)
++++
Yup. Always.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at December 27, 2023 11:09 AM (zxP/x)

40 >>"But search algorithms are not designed to prioritize accurate information - rather, they prioritize information designed to appeal to or exploit those algorithms."

Yep, and we can all remember a time when search engines used to be effective, and then with each one - Bing was memorable - overnight they became useless. You'd search for something that happened/was published 5+ years ago and all you get is info from the recent year. Search "Obama defies court order" and all you get is results on Trump, etc.. Kinda like how seemingly overnight, during 2020, an Amazon search for something - say, "pentax binoculars" - returns pages and pages and pages of cheap Chinese company knockoffs.

Posted by: Lizzy at December 27, 2023 11:09 AM (izj35)

41 In other words, their shit is weak and can’t bear the littlest bit of scrutiny. And they know it.

Posted by: sniffybigtoe at December 27, 2023 11:10 AM (uKeRS)

42 apathy towards politics

motivate political violence

--
Here we have two contradictory statements in one paragraph. If one is apathetic about politics then one is hardly likely to partake in any form of political violence.

Posted by: Ciampino - Such cretinous garbage at December 27, 2023 11:10 AM (qfLjt)

43 You go now, you been here four hour - Google Search

Posted by: Archer at December 27, 2023 11:11 AM (gmo/4)

44 Dihydrogen Monoxide is nasty stuff. Killer, even. Look it up!
Posted by: Count de Monet

It's present in all animals and plants and they will all die.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at December 27, 2023 11:11 AM (DlMmC)

45 Out: Knowledge is power.

In: Knowledge is racism.

Posted by: Robert at December 27, 2023 11:11 AM (1Yy3c)

46 Lenin and Stalin had all this figured out a century ago.

Posted by: Tom Servo at December 27, 2023 11:12 AM (S6gqv)

47 In other words, their shit is weak and can’t bear the littlest bit of scrutiny. And they know it.
Posted by: sniffybigtoe

Is there a bead joke in there?

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at December 27, 2023 11:12 AM (DlMmC)

48 Mandrake, do you know 70% of you is Di-hydrogen Monoxide?

Posted by: Archer at December 27, 2023 11:13 AM (gmo/4)

49 It's present in all animals and plants.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at December 27, 2023 11:11 AM (DlMmC)

As is....carbon.

Posted by: BignJames at December 27, 2023 11:13 AM (AwYPR)

50 Cattle Decapitation - Bring Back The Plague

https://youtu.be/lXGSLKWeVwE

Filmed on cellphones during the lockdowns. What's funny is seeing the vocalist's cat behind him while he's lip syncing and playing some vidya.

Posted by: Robert at December 27, 2023 11:13 AM (1Yy3c)

51 Who wrote this article in Forbes?

David Vetter
Senior Contributor
Climate research, renewables and circularity

Posted by: Lee Reynolds at December 27, 2023 11:13 AM (k0deR)

52 I grew up reading the National Enquirer that my mom would get weekly. I learned to separate fact from fiction at an early age. The NE broke a lot of stories that the MSM wouldn’t cover but they also exaggerated or added in a few of their own ‘facts’. Kind of like the internet now.

Posted by: Drive by at December 27, 2023 11:14 AM (MNhXM)

53 Dihydrogen Monoxide is nasty stuff. Killer, even. Look it up!
Posted by: Count de Monet
-----
It kills a shit-ton of kids, usually in the summer. Especially of rich kids.

Posted by: andycanuck (2yu8s) at December 27, 2023 11:14 AM (2yu8s)

54 Climate research, renewables and circularity
------------
So, fappery, rite?

Posted by: Pudinhead at December 27, 2023 11:14 AM (pZ64F)

55 The "Ministry of Truth" has spoken.

Posted by: Paladin at December 27, 2023 11:14 AM (JFD3p)

56 Out: Knowledge is power.

In: Knowledge is racism.
Posted by: Robert at December 27, 2023 11:11 AM (1Yy3c)

War is Peace

Freedom is Slavery

Posted by: Drive by at December 27, 2023 11:15 AM (MNhXM)

57
A “threat to democracy”. Well, we had the German Democratic Republic. And Maoist China was a “people’s democracy”. Right?
Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33

The People's Democratic Republic of FillInTheBlank

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at December 27, 2023 11:15 AM (63Dwl)

58 Here we have two contradictory statements in one paragraph. If one is apathetic about politics then one is hardly likely to partake in any form of political violence.
Posted by: Ciampino - Such cretinous garbage at December 27, 2023 11:10 AM (qfLjt)
++++
Good catch, and I am embarrassed that I didn't make the same observation. I am sure it would be a mealy-mouthed "but it's different" kind of explanation. I'll channel my inner academic and give it a shot.

"Misinformation and fake news help promote and deepen political apathy in that people who consume and believe the lies proffered by nefarious actors will subsequently come to believe that there is little or any purpose in traditional political engagement. They will believe that voting, the petition process, legal processes, etc. are 'rigged' or that there are 'two standards of justice' or that powerful politicians are 'above the law.' Indeed, all three of these expressions are common dog-whistles among conspiracy theorists and those entrapped by misinformation.

This apathy toward traditional means of political redress creates vacuum and a market for alternative means of achieving redress, including political violence."

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at December 27, 2023 11:15 AM (zxP/x)

59 Wtf is circularity?

Posted by: sniffybigtoe at December 27, 2023 11:15 AM (uKeRS)

60 The "don't do your own research" mindset is literally antiscience. The whole point of science is independent research, analysis, and emperical observation. Fuck these assholes.

Posted by: Angzarr the Cromulent at December 27, 2023 11:16 AM (j381Y)

61 59 Wtf is circularity?
------------
Preferred method of beating off.

Posted by: Pudinhead at December 27, 2023 11:16 AM (pZ64F)

62 Search engines, anymore, are all just vehicles to try to sell you shit. And Boolean operators all seem to be a thing of the past.
Yesterday, I was seeking a schematic diagram for the circuit board in a Lincoln Powermig 180T welder. Could not find it, not even on Yandex. But, Boy Howdy! Did I ever get a long litany of links to Amazon and eBay trying to sell me welders.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at December 27, 2023 11:17 AM (tkR6S)

63 But, but, but... I have been informed that conventional science and objective knowledge is white supremacism and colonialism. So now I should just accept the word of an academic that I should just accept the word of academics? Oh, whatever shall I do? I am so confused.

Posted by: Oddbob at December 27, 2023 11:17 AM (sNc8Y)

64 Know how to make fire...might come in handy.

Posted by: BignJames at December 27, 2023 11:17 AM (AwYPR)

65 The "don't do your own research" mindset is literally antiscience. The whole point of science is independent research, analysis, and emperical observation. Fuck these assholes.
Posted by: Angzarr the Cromulent at December 27, 2023 11:16 AM (j381Y)
++++
They all seem to have forgotten that the basis of what we used to call the "scientific method" is falsification. You assert something. You test for it. You publish your findings. Your peers try to rip it to pieces and prove that you're wrong.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at December 27, 2023 11:17 AM (zxP/x)

66 Here we have two contradictory statements in one paragraph. If one is apathetic about politics then one is hardly likely to partake in any form of political violence.
Posted by: Ciampino - Such cretinous garbage at December 27, 2023 11:10 AM (qfLjt)

Perhaps, but it also occurs to me that those who are apathetic are sometimes very violent since they tend to strike out against that which they do not understand.

Posted by: Archer at December 27, 2023 11:18 AM (gmo/4)

67 If you don’t accept Aslett’s thesis he has an appointment for you with a rat cage.

Posted by: Drive by at December 27, 2023 11:18 AM (MNhXM)

68 But, but, but... I have been informed that conventional science and objective knowledge is white supremacism and colonialism. So now I should just accept the word of an academic that I should just accept the word of academics? Oh, whatever shall I do? I am so confused.
Posted by: Oddbob at December 27, 2023 11:17 AM (sNc8Y)
++++
Hierarchies, the scientific method, etc. are all racist.

Unless it helps the Left, then it is sacrosanct.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at December 27, 2023 11:18 AM (zxP/x)

69 Ah, I googled circularity. 2nd link is from the UN. More climate bullshit. Must be a new rebranding.

Posted by: sniffybigtoe at December 27, 2023 11:19 AM (uKeRS)

70 Wtf is circularity?
------------
Preferred method of beating off.
Posted by: Pudinhead at December 27, 2023 11:16 AM (pZ64F)

I like to tease myself.

Posted by: Robert at December 27, 2023 11:19 AM (1Yy3c)

71 They all seem to have forgotten that the basis of what we used to call the "scientific method" is falsification. You assert something. You test for it. You publish your findings. Your peers try to rip it to pieces and prove that you're wrong.
Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at December 27, 2023 11:17 AM

*snigger*

Posted by: Government grant $$$ at December 27, 2023 11:20 AM (jA9ul)

72 They all seem to have forgotten that the basis of what we used to call the "scientific method" is falsification. You assert something. You test for it. You publish your findings. Your peers try to rip it to pieces and prove that you're wrong.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at December 27, 2023 11:17 AM (zxP/x) `

"Scientific Method" was destroyed by the so-called study that pushed Global Warming.

Posted by: vic at December 27, 2023 11:20 AM (A5THL)

73 Guys like Kevin Aslett make me thankful for the class I took my freshman year at WSU. Taught by a self-described anarchist/atheist, it was easily one of the more fun classes I had as undergrad. (And not just because Kathy Williams was in it and she sat next to me).
He taught me how to say Bullshit and mean it when it came to any stated point. Now part of that of course, was having my own stated points, and I had to be able to back those up with sources. And I did. Great class.

Posted by: Diogenes at December 27, 2023 11:21 AM (W/lyH)

74 Out: Knowledge is power.

In: Knowledge is racism.
Posted by: Robert at December 27, 2023 11:11 AM (1Yy3c)

War is Peace

Freedom is Slavery
Posted by: Drive by at December 27, 2023 11:15 AM (MNhXM)

Knowledge is Good!

Posted by: Emil Faber at December 27, 2023 11:21 AM (4I/2K)

75 PJM: Men Can Get Free Tampons in Canadian Government Building Bathrooms Now

http://tinyurl.com/56s6zjvw

I suppose you could shove one in your ass if you have the runs.

Posted by: Robert at December 27, 2023 11:22 AM (1Yy3c)

76 Wtf is circularity?

It is what happens to matter at the center of a black thought.

Posted by: Archer at December 27, 2023 11:22 AM (gmo/4)

77 Wtf is circularity?
Posted by: sniffybigtoe at December 27, 2023 11:15 AM (uKeRS)
++++
Based on the root, my guess is a study of cycles within processes, or the flow of stuff around the, well, circuit.

From the context, I'd guess it's something to do with climate nonsense, along the lines of "we need a great big superstate solution to enforce restrictions in the production/consumption cycle for the benefit of Mother Gaia."

:: goes to check ::

As outlined by Inger Andersen, UNEP Executive Director, circularity and sustainable consumption and production are essential to delivering on every multilateral agreement, from the Sustainable Development Goals, to the Paris Agreement to the post-2020 global biodiversity framework. ...

Circularity builds upon value retention loops, as shown on the UNEP circularity approach below

Retention loops - the "virtuous circle" or "vicious cycle" and the like. From the graphic I saw, it's a more complicated and stupider version of the "Reduce Reuse Recycle" concept.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at December 27, 2023 11:23 AM (zxP/x)

78 *snigger*
Posted by: Government grant $$$ at December 27, 2023 11:20 AM (jA9ul)

Racism!

Posted by: Leftist Hack Trying To His Rivals Kicked Off A Project at December 27, 2023 11:23 AM (1Yy3c)

79 If Mr Asletts' conclusion is correct - what does this say about plagiarizers? Of course this asshat is a product of the very nonsense, nonthink, collective mind hive set. Logic and reason are gone.

Posted by: Commander Cobra at December 27, 2023 11:23 AM (a9WJA)

80 Wtf is circularity?
------------
Preferred method of beating off.
Posted by: Pudinhead
---------

So, a circle jerk?

Posted by: olddog in mo at December 27, 2023 11:23 AM (ViCCR)

81 Wtf is circularity?

A funny circle jerk.

Posted by: rickb223 at December 27, 2023 11:24 AM (NeGkf)

82 No doubt suppled by Canada’s strategic tampon reserve.

Posted by: sniffybigtoe at December 27, 2023 11:24 AM (uKeRS)

83 I always have to go to the 4th or 5th page of results to find what I’m looking for if the topic is at all political.

Posted by: Montec at December 27, 2023 11:25 AM (bWsRe)

84 "Scientific Method" was destroyed by the so-called study that pushed Global Warming.
Posted by: vic

*cough COVID cough*

Posted by: rickb223 at December 27, 2023 11:25 AM (NeGkf)

85 Wtf is circularity?

fixation w/venn diagrams.

Posted by: BignJames at December 27, 2023 11:26 AM (AwYPR)

86 Mr. Aslett (phrasing!!!) must be a Chinese chess champion, because he is pulling this drivel out of his ass.

Posted by: stu-mick-o-sucks at December 27, 2023 11:26 AM (w9Wax)

87 If Mr Asletts' conclusion is correct - what does this say about plagiarizers?

If independent research is out the window, I guess plagiarism is all that's left.

Posted by: Oddbob at December 27, 2023 11:26 AM (sNc8Y)

88 *cough COVID cough*
Posted by: rickb223 at December 27, 2023 11:25 AM (NeGkf)
++++
COVID saw it totally destroyed. "Climate Science" did the legwork. COVID was standing on the shoulders of a giant.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at December 27, 2023 11:26 AM (zxP/x)

89 Out: Knowledge is power.

In: Knowledge is racism.
Posted by: Robert at December 27, 2023 11:11 AM (1Yy3c)

Race pimps have been peddling that poisonous shit for years. Booker T Washington, Benjamin Banneker and George Washington Carver are nothing more than shuffling "yassa, Massa!" Uncle Toms to the vast majority.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at December 27, 2023 11:26 AM (Q0kLU)

90 This *is* the next phase, already.

The State and its corporate-fascist cronies in Silicon Valley are highly adept at leveraging a combination of social media, traditional media, and millions of flesh-and-blood NPCs to create enormous, overwhelming social pressure over ever-shorter time intervals.

They know damn well that millions of people, in some cases outright majorities, disagree with them and have bad thoughts. "COVID was a big scam." "Trump won the election." "I don't want a war with Ukraine." "This economy is ruining me." "There are too many illegals." "Boys can't be girls." And on and on.

And yet, virtually none of them feel safe to say any of that in public for fear of reprisal and social isolation. This kind of psychological terrorism is much more effective than laws or shady Trust & Safety councils. If they make looking things up a Bad Thing for Garbage People, people will still do it - but will never mention facts in public, in case they reveal themselves as looker-uppers.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at December 27, 2023 11:26 AM (0FoWg)

91 If independent research is out the window, I guess plagiarism is all that's left.
Posted by: Oddbob at December 27, 2023 11:26 AM (sNc8Y)
++++
I hope Claudine Gay runs with this...

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at December 27, 2023 11:26 AM (zxP/x)

92 fixation w/venn diagrams.
Posted by: BignJames at December 27, 2023 11:26 AM (AwYPR)

This is about me, isn't it?

Posted by: Kamalalamadingdong at December 27, 2023 11:26 AM (1Yy3c)

93 Instead of doing your own research, simply consult the tribal elders.

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at December 27, 2023 11:27 AM (63Dwl)

94 What do people do vis a vis encyclopedias these days, particularly in regards to references for kids? I know in the 80s & early 90s it was World Book or Encyclopedia Britannica. But that was pre-internet, and Wikipedia is the default now. I know Wikipedia is 'open-source', leftist, and thus not all that reliable. But is any print encyclopedia not Leftist? I guess it may not be as bad as Wikipedia, and better to research via print and not have kids spin into the ether of the Internet. Just wondering what people do in the (former?) encyclopedia realm these days?

Posted by: bearski at December 27, 2023 11:27 AM (Bhsk7)

95 And when there actually is mis/mal-information, it is likely to be floated by the CIA/FBI team of color revolutionists.

The whole of global warming is misinformation, but how do we get rid of it? The Great Barrington Declaration could have saved a half million, but they were censored as Fauci/Birx frauds led the way (to great profit and control over our lives).

The whole hoax on humanity is greater, and more evil, than a rational person can imagine.

Posted by: illiniwek at December 27, 2023 11:27 AM (Cus5s)

96 I hope Claudine Gay runs with this...

Will she give me credit?

Posted by: Oddbob at December 27, 2023 11:28 AM (sNc8Y)

97 PJM: Men Can Get Free Tampons in Canadian Government Building Bathrooms Now

http://tinyurl.com/56s6zjvw

I suppose you could shove one in your ass if you have the runs.
Posted by: Robert at December 27, 2023 11:22 AM (1Yy3c)

I make practice of avoiding Canadian Federal Government building out a desire to maintain my sanity. But those tampon dispensers in men's washrooms would be a great opportunity for pranks... Likewise, the "disposal" bins. Drop a deuce in them...

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at December 27, 2023 11:28 AM (tkR6S)

98 Poppycock! Siri will look it up for you!

My 65 year old brother talks to Siri everyday and the validity of the answers to the info he's researching is 85%. He knows when it's bullshit and will follow with a couple more questions for refinements to get to 95%.

At his age, it's easy to let it slide, but for developing young minds this model is a horrible miscarriage of the education system.

Posted by: Dr. Bone at December 27, 2023 11:28 AM (J3ryZ)

99 My Encyclopedia Britannica had boobies in it. Those were my favorite pages.

Posted by: sniffybigtoe at December 27, 2023 11:28 AM (uKeRS)

100 Peer review is not designed to validate scientific work.

It is designed to make sure the reviewer's previous paper on the subject is cited in the paper being reviewed.

Posted by: Candidus at December 27, 2023 11:29 AM (Ya7DW)

101 My Encyclopedia Britannica had boobies in it. Those were my favorite pages.

Posted by: sniffybigtoe at December 27, 2023 11:28 AM (uKeRS)

Agreed. Booobies are what make life worth living.

Posted by: Archer at December 27, 2023 11:29 AM (gmo/4)

102 Peer review is not designed to validate scientific work.

It is designed to make sure the reviewer's previous paper on the subject is cited in the paper being reviewed.
Posted by: Candidus at December 27, 2023 11:29 AM (Ya7DW)
++++
It's people like you that made those guys at MIT write that paper!

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at December 27, 2023 11:30 AM (zxP/x)

103 There's a certain class of writer that must spend huge amounts of time developing bullshit articles strictly as clickbait.

Posted by: Northernlurker at December 27, 2023 11:30 AM (x42Y3)

104 My 65 year old brother...

At his age...

Cuttin' awful close to the bone there, buddy.

Posted by: Oddbob at December 27, 2023 11:30 AM (sNc8Y)

105 88 *cough COVID cough*
Posted by: rickb223 at December 27, 2023 11:25 AM (NeGkf)
++++
COVID saw it totally destroyed. "Climate Science" did the legwork. COVID was standing on the shoulders of a giant.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at December 27, 2023 11:26 AM (zxP/x)

The COVID study had no kind of study what-so-ever. Just a bunch of sh*t.

Posted by: vic at December 27, 2023 11:30 AM (A5THL)

106 I wish I could remember when I started lurking here; I only know I'm not a 'lifer.'

For me it the Algore "Glamor Shots". I was at work LMAO, I could not stop.

Posted by: Paladin at December 27, 2023 11:30 AM (JFD3p)

107 There's a certain class of writer that must spend huge amounts of time developing bullshit articles strictly as clickbait.

Posted by: Northernlurker at December 27, 2023 11:30 AM (x42Y3)

The Daily Mail and The Daily Caller have entered the chat.

Posted by: Archer at December 27, 2023 11:31 AM (gmo/4)

108 My mother used to tell me to go dig a hole in the backyard. After a while the backyard looked like a WWI no man's land. She also bought me an encyclopedia.

Posted by: Smell the Glove at December 27, 2023 11:31 AM (iYJk7)

109 Wtf is circularity?
------------
Preferred method of beating off.
Posted by: Pudinhead
---------

So, a circle jerk?
Posted by: olddog in mo at December 27, 2023 11:23 AM (ViCCR)
***

A method of prostate examinations administered by media to each other...preferably in a conference room.

Posted by: Diogenes at December 27, 2023 11:31 AM (W/lyH)

110 BTW; the COVID Mess had no kind of study at all.

Posted by: vic at December 27, 2023 11:32 AM (A5THL)

111 I had an encounter on Reddit like this. Someone said red states are losing people to blue states. I replied and said da fuq are you talking about the fastest growing states are all red. And provided a link showing it.

The replies back were along the lines of this is just right wing propaganda, red states are bleeding people and everyone knows this is true.

Posted by: Montec at December 27, 2023 11:33 AM (bWsRe)

112 BTW; the COVID Mess had no kind of study at all.
Posted by: vic at December 27, 2023 11:32 AM (A5THL)

The Covid mess was a study: a study of the manipulation of sheep.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at December 27, 2023 11:33 AM (tkR6S)

113 I had an encounter on Reddit like this. Someone said red states are losing people to blue states. I replied and said da fuq are you talking about the fastest growing states are all red. And provided a link showing it.

The replies back were along the lines of this is just right wing propaganda, red states are bleeding people and everyone knows this is true.

Posted by: Montec at December 27, 2023 11:33 AM (bWsRe)

Don't disabuse them of their beliefs. Tell them red states are inescapable hellholes where all goodness and light dies. Encourage them to stay where they are.

Posted by: Robert at December 27, 2023 11:35 AM (1Yy3c)

114 Misinformation, thy name is Democrat.

Posted by: setnaffa at December 27, 2023 11:36 AM (Zx2yY)

115 But those tampon dispensers in men's washrooms would be a great opportunity for pranks... Likewise, the "disposal" bins. Drop a deuce in them...
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at December 27, 2023 11:28 AM (tkR6S)

Used condoms.

Posted by: Robert at December 27, 2023 11:36 AM (1Yy3c)

116 Don't disabuse them of their beliefs. Tell them red states are inescapable hellholes where all goodness and light dies. Encourage them to stay where they are.
Posted by: Robert at December 27, 2023 11:35 AM (1Yy3c)

Heh. "...and by the way, when they shove you in the oven, and turn on the gas, can I have your guns?"

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at December 27, 2023 11:37 AM (tkR6S)

117 But those tampon dispensers in men's washrooms would be a great opportunity for pranks... Likewise, the "disposal" bins. Drop a deuce in them...
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at December 27, 2023 11:28 AM (tkR6S)
++++
Schoolkids in this country (in districts broken enough to demand this crap) have a habit of vandalizing them. Taking them off the wall and dumping them in the toilet, smashing them up, filling them with trash, soaking them, etc.

It actually seems like a reasonable response to me.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at December 27, 2023 11:38 AM (zxP/x)

118 "Trump/Russia" screamed at us for four+ years ... while Bidens/Clintons collected big bucks from Ukraine/China/Russia ... yet it is as if that never happened. MSM just moves on to the next series of talking points.

Posted by: illiniwek at December 27, 2023 11:38 AM (Cus5s)

119 There is nothing a leftist can say or show me that will make me change my view. I am just as adamant in my position as they are theirs. Time tells us whose right

Posted by: Ben Had at December 27, 2023 11:39 AM (PKEqY)

120 Schoolkids in this country (in districts broken enough to demand this crap) have a habit of vandalizing them. Taking them off the wall and dumping them in the toilet, smashing them up, filling them with trash, soaking them, etc.

It actually seems like a reasonable response to me.
Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at December 27, 2023 11:38 AM (zxP/x)

A sad commentary on the general unavailability of M80 firecrackers anymore.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at December 27, 2023 11:39 AM (tkR6S)

121 This guy, Asswipe, or whatever his name is, is a gutless, cowardly, lickspittle, loser. If your position can't stand up to scrutiny and opposing views, then it must not be a very strong position.

Be careful where you stand, lest you fall.

Posted by: Fetterman's lump at December 27, 2023 11:40 AM (Z/PeV)

122 A sad commentary on the general unavailability of M80 firecrackers anymore.
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at December 27, 2023 11:39 AM

We used to be a proper country...

Posted by: RedMindBlueState at December 27, 2023 11:40 AM (jA9ul)

123 I'm currently watching Season 4 of "Person of Interest." Two rival AIs are at war, with humanity caught in the middle. The AI known as "Samaritan" just attempted to infiltrate education by providing all school children in the state with a "free" tablet computer that it controlled. They would only see the information they were fed, rather than have the ability to look up information freely.

Insidious and effective.

How do we know such a war is *not* taking place right now?

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at December 27, 2023 11:41 AM (BpYfr)

124 Aslett should stick to his family business of making chaps.

Posted by: Bulgaroctonus at December 27, 2023 11:41 AM (9yWhg)

125 What do people do vis a vis encyclopedias these days, particularly in regards to references for kids? I know in the 80s & early 90s it was World Book or Encyclopedia Britannica. But that was pre-internet, and Wikipedia is the default now. I know Wikipedia is 'open-source', leftist, and thus not all that reliable. But is any print encyclopedia not Leftist? I guess it may not be as bad as Wikipedia, and better to research via print and not have kids spin into the ether of the Internet. Just wondering what people do in the (former?) encyclopedia realm these days?
Posted by: bearski

All you can do nowadays is research it the best you can and add footnotes. If it's wrong, it's wrong, but it's not on you.

Posted by: rickb223 at December 27, 2023 11:42 AM (NeGkf)

126 Totalitarians and fascists always believe that when they engage in things like censorship, it is for everyone's good.

Nobody believes they are the villain. That's the worst part, to me, that these people honestly believe themselves paragons of moral virtue. In their minds, they cheer on censorship because they are fighting evil.

When in reality censorship in and of itself is always evil and whoever is pushing it is evil.

I know people who think like this Ashlett guy - they are the worst kind of smug, self-righteous lefties. But, they truly believe themselves "the good guys".

Posted by: I forgot my name b/c I haven't posted in 6 months at December 27, 2023 11:44 AM (ky+MF)

127 One of the sadder parts about that study coming out of MIT is that as a kid, I thought of MIT and Cal Tech as the absolute pinnacle of human intellectural achievement. A place where math ruled, and an assertion was either proven or shown to be false.

How the mighty have fallen, and taken our beloved country with them.

Posted by: Candidus at December 27, 2023 11:44 AM (Ya7DW)

128 just carrying Big Brother's water for xer

Posted by: ghost of hallelujah at December 27, 2023 11:45 AM (sJHOI)

129 When I first heard about the vibrating, blue tooth connected anal beads, I went and looked it up.

Wow Nelly!

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at December 27, 2023 11:45 AM (Edu7X)

130 58
Verbose but a good response withing the parameters of their bullshit.
Job well done Joe.

Posted by: Ciampino - unpossible at December 27, 2023 11:46 AM (qfLjt)

131 A place where math ruled

Yeesh, talk about a nightmare...

Posted by: Bulgaroctonus at December 27, 2023 11:46 AM (9yWhg)

132 A sad commentary on the general unavailability of M80 firecrackers anymore.
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon

Trust me. You will thank me.

https://www.skylighter.com/

Posted by: rickb223 at December 27, 2023 11:46 AM (NeGkf)

133 >>> But those tampon dispensers in men's washrooms would be a great opportunity for pranks...

>A string, pop-it party favor may be an item the "new" TSA should focus on isolating from the public pop-pop-populous.

Posted by: Dr. Bone at December 27, 2023 11:47 AM (J3ryZ)

134 Put more succinctly, the truth is what the thought leaders say it is, and finding out on your own is severely frowned upon.

Don't bother learning anything, your betters have all the answers.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at December 27, 2023 11:47 AM (lTGtQ)

135 How do we know such a war is *not* taking place right now?

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at December 27, 2023 11:41 AM (BpYfr)

It's going on right now, but it's not a war b/c there's nobody really on the side of freedom and liberty. where is the side fighting for non-censorship? It's us, but it's not the GOP or "conservative" platforms or any large organization. The closest we have to someone fighting on our side is Elon Musk and X.

Posted by: I forgot my name b/c I haven't posted in 6 months at December 27, 2023 11:47 AM (ky+MF)

136 Well, I am not liking that. My Pinephone shut down overnight while on the charge, and I had to reboot it just now. How do I know if I missed a call?

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at December 27, 2023 11:47 AM (tkR6S)

137 When I first heard about the vibrating, blue tooth connected anal beads, I went and looked it up.

Wow Nelly!
Posted by: Hairyback Guy at December 27, 2023 11:45 AM (Edu7X)

We see you were looking up Bluetooth connected anal beads and we thought these links would interest you. So we will show them to you. Forever.

Posted by: Google Adsense at December 27, 2023 11:48 AM (1Yy3c)

138 "This is more battlespace preparation for the next round in the censorship war. "

---

I think you're dead right about that. Demagogues need intellectuals to give cover for their ideas.

See, it's published, in a paper! It must be true. There's always an instinct leftists follow, to deceive and force, and it eventually leads to people being cowed into accepting that the lies they see plainly in front of them, cannot be challenged. It's not that they believe them, it's that they know the truth won't set them free.

It will do just the opposite. So yes, we all say in unison, two plus two DOES equal five.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 27, 2023 11:48 AM (TcM3i)

139 Not that it was in question but it's always nice to have proof. Listen to this dirtbag admit that the person funding CREW to get Trump off the ballot in states across the country is Soros. Same guy who funded the Russia collusion hoax and pretty much every other leftist hoax.

http://tinyurl.com/3b9hwb2y

Posted by: JackStraw at December 27, 2023 11:48 AM (ZLI7S)

140 124 Aslett should stick to his family business of making chaps.

Now that's funny, raht cher.

Posted by: Oddbob at December 27, 2023 11:49 AM (sNc8Y)

141 59 Wtf is circularity?

Posted by: sniffybigtoe at December 27, 2023 11:15 AM (uKeRS)
----
Put it this way, how many faggots does it take to make a circle?

Posted by: Ciampino - Ugandan or Japanese faggots? at December 27, 2023 11:49 AM (qfLjt)

142 The solution is easy. Just ask yourself, what would Claudine Gay do?

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter Here at December 27, 2023 11:49 AM (FVME7)

143 Do you need a permit or a license to be an "expert"? Why is one person an expert and another a conspiracy theorist?

Conspiracy theorists were way more accurate than the experts on covid.

Posted by: Lemmiwinks at December 27, 2023 11:49 AM (ZQo7S)

144 It is true though, that finding the real scientists is getting harder. They all must suck up to FakeScience or they get censored, their papers never published, no grants given, and so forth.

If the real men of science do persist and start a website, that site gets attacked, de-platformed, shadow-banned ... and maybe their bank or at least Pay-Pal can cancel their accounts.

Big Tech feels they have the power to control the general public via such tactics, and they are largely acting on that belief. The Google Archipelago is a powerful gulag against "offenders".

Posted by: illiniwek at December 27, 2023 11:50 AM (Cus5s)

145 Out: Out-of-the-box thinking
In: In-the-box thinking!

It'll be a miracle if we experience any more true innovation with these fucktards in charge.

Posted by: Halfhand at December 27, 2023 11:51 AM (o5xaO)

146 I can't believe that no one has responded to the What is circularity question with "$20, same as in town" yet.

It's like I don't know you people anymore.

Posted by: Bulgaroctonus at December 27, 2023 11:52 AM (9yWhg)

147 One of the sadder parts about that study coming out of MIT is that as a kid, I thought of MIT and Cal Tech as the absolute pinnacle of human intellectural achievement. A place where math ruled, and an assertion was either proven or shown to be false.

How the mighty have fallen, and taken our beloved country with them.
Posted by: Candidus at December 27, 2023 11:44 AM (Ya7DW)

It wasn't for nothing that Epstein was inviting pointy headed intellectuals to the island. There are tales of many MIT and Stanford and other such perfessers being introduced the girls, having a 30 second pump and dump with them, and then....

You're ours now. We control you.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 27, 2023 11:52 AM (TcM3i)

148 138

It will do just the opposite. So yes, we all say in unison, two plus two DOES equal five.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 27, 2023 11:48 AM (TcM3i)
----
2 + 2 = 5 for large values of 2

Posted by: Common Core Mathematics Graduate - Gee I can spell! at December 27, 2023 11:53 AM (qfLjt)

149 The solution is easy. Just ask yourself, what would Claudine Gay do?

Ask Amy Schumer?

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at December 27, 2023 11:53 AM (Q0kLU)

150 Forbes sold out to China...literally.
China owns Forbes magazine and maybe more of Forbes.

Posted by: Braenyard at December 27, 2023 11:54 AM (OcFc1)

151 Regarding democracy, Michael Malice says, "My rights aren't up for discussion, let alone a vote."

Our precious democracy is headed by a low IQ asshole with galloping dementia. But making the State the butt of your jokes is a crime! And crimes against the State are the most heinous crimes of all.

Posted by: Oglebay at December 27, 2023 11:54 AM (ogTiX)

152 But those tampon dispensers in men's washrooms

Mistletoe in the men's room!

Posted by: Commissar of Plenty and Lysenkoism in solidarity with the struggle to maintain Moron standards at December 27, 2023 11:54 AM (Z8fMF)

153 It'll be a miracle if we experience any more true innovation with these fucktards in charge.
Posted by: Halfhand at December 27, 2023 11:51 AM (o5xaO)
++++
It isn't their fault. The real problem is reincarnation.

You see, reincarnation - the rebirth of a person's soul into a new body - means that we can only get innovation during periods of population growth. Without population growth, there are no "new" people being born because the reincarnated souls must be placed. Only when the birth rate exceeds the death rate - plus any accumulated backlog - can we expect to see innovation some 30 years later.

The postwar global "baby boom" offset the deaths of the war and of various tyrannies and population increases resulted in the birth of new souls, and therefore new ideas. In the current era of global demographic stabilization or decline, there can be no new ideas because there are no new souls being born.

Posted by: Disinformation Peddler at December 27, 2023 11:54 AM (zxP/x)

154 The two scariest words in the English language: experts say

Posted by: Montec at December 27, 2023 11:54 AM (bWsRe)

155 1 + 0 = 3

Posted by: Soutwest Airlines Seat Assignment Algorithm at December 27, 2023 11:56 AM (w9Wax)

156 Regarding democracy, Michael Malice says, "My rights aren't up for discussion, let alone a vote."

Posted by: Oglebay at December 27, 2023 11:54 AM (ogTiX)

Crazy talk.

Posted by: The Wolves In The Majority at December 27, 2023 11:56 AM (1Yy3c)

157 The two scariest words in the English language: experts say
Posted by: Montec at December 27, 2023 11:54 AM (bWsRe)
++++
I am literally triggered. I just can't even.

Posted by: Tom Nichols at December 27, 2023 11:56 AM (zxP/x)

158 The two scariest words in the English language: experts say

Posted by: Montec

No one remembers the appeal to authority fallacy.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at December 27, 2023 11:57 AM (lTGtQ)

159 You do not prove something is true by banning lies.

Only lies must ban the truth to survive.

Posted by: People's Hippo Voice - Personality Commentator at December 27, 2023 11:57 AM (WFCaJ)

160 As a teacher once told me when I was a kid, "there are only two requirements if you want to be an expert: carry a briefcase and work at least 50 miles from home."

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at December 27, 2023 11:57 AM (zxP/x)

161 148 138

It will do just the opposite. So yes, we all say in unison, two plus two DOES equal five.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 27, 2023 11:48 AM (TcM3i)
----
2 + 2 = 5 for large values of 2

----

The 2+2=? problem should require a student to include a formal proof that the set of positive integers is closed under addition. No proof, no credit, smartass.

Posted by: Oglebay at December 27, 2023 11:58 AM (ogTiX)

162 The two scariest words in the English language: experts say

I thought they were "Trigglypuff naked."

Posted by: Bulgaroctonus at December 27, 2023 11:58 AM (9yWhg)

163 For the time being, then, the best option for people interested in staying informed might be to check out out a digital literacy course, such as Stanford's Civic Online Reasoning program.

-------------

Not to be confused with its sister projects:

. the Virality Project, which reviewed and coordinated censorship on YouTube/Google, Twitter, Facebook/Instagram, Medium, Tiktok, and Pintrest -- a dragnet that captured the vast amount of online discourse; and

. the Election Integrity Partnership (EIP), that worked with DHS’ Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to flag, suppress, and remove online speech in coordination with big tech companies.

Posted by: ShainS -- I saw the Crotch Goblins open for Poetic Ammo at December 27, 2023 11:59 AM (yg/FY)

164 "1 + 0 = 3"

With 2+2=5 as a foundation, all other fallacy can be proven true.

Posted by: illiniwek at December 27, 2023 11:59 AM (Cus5s)

165 Do you need a permit or a license to be an "expert"? Why is one person an expert and another a conspiracy theorist?

Conspiracy theorists were way more accurate than the experts on covid.
Posted by: Lemmiwinks at December 27, 2023 11:49 AM (ZQo7S)

Yes

Posted by: BurtTC at December 27, 2023 11:59 AM (TcM3i)

166 148 138

It will do just the opposite. So yes, we all say in unison, two plus two DOES equal five.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 27, 2023 11:48 AM (TcM3i)
----
2 + 2 = 5 for large values of 2

Posted by: Common Core Mathematics Graduate - Gee I can spell! at December 27, 2023 11:53
----
Off topic a little:
I wonder what 2+2 = in minority arithmetic?

Posted by: Common Core Arithmetic - KISS at December 27, 2023 11:59 AM (qfLjt)

167 tampons in men's stalls, when you're all in on the charade - even when nobody's looking

Posted by: ghost of hallelujah at December 27, 2023 12:01 PM (sJHOI)

168 Remember the "Alt" twitter & Facebook handles by government agencies?

ABC 13 - WSET, Jan 26, 2017 ' "Alt" Twitter handles for EPA, NASA, CDC, National Parks and others are tweeting scientific data and calls to #resist.

Williams-Grand Canyon News: Alt NPS to Trump: you can't shut down the internet. Some National Park Service employees defy Interior Department ban on "national policy" in social media, creating alternate accounts.

Facebook - After being told commenting on matters of national policy was inappropriate, some federal employees took to social media under alternate accounts, posting about topics ranging from climate change to legislation potentially harmful to the environment and the general public. By Erin Ford. Originally published February 7, 2017

Smokey says RESIST; NLT NPS Leave No Land Behind.

Grand Canyon, AZ - (In part) Since the announcement of Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States, scientists, environmentalists and activists have joined forces to bemoan what they consider to be an administration with a troubling disregard for the environment.

ALT websites were not uncommon in Executive Branch federal agencies. Some still exist.

Posted by: L - They don't have to outrun the bear, they only need to outrun us - for now at December 27, 2023 12:01 PM (GshMh)

169 Where do the undead shop for clothes?

Aberzombie & Fitch

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at December 27, 2023 12:01 PM (zxP/x)

170 The two scariest words in the English language: experts say

... I thought it was "pussy" and "wall."

Posted by: ShainS -- I saw the Crotch Goblins open for Poetic Ammo at December 27, 2023 12:01 PM (pQndl)

171 ALT websites were not uncommon in Executive Branch federal agencies. Some still exist.
Posted by: L - They don't have to outrun the bear, they only need to outrun us - for now at December 27, 2023 12:01 PM (GshMh)
++++
alt.tyrants.propaganda

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at December 27, 2023 12:01 PM (zxP/x)

172 The gift that keeps on giving.

Ali Bradley
@AliBradleyTV
#BREAKING CBP sources confirm migrant encounters have surpassed 250k for the month of December—On pace to break the previous record set in September of 269,735.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter Here at December 27, 2023 12:02 PM (FVME7)

173 2 + 2 = 5 for large values of 2

Posted by: Common Core Mathematics Graduate - Gee I can spell! at December 27, 2023 11:53

That is actually a numerical analysis joke. Because computers are stupid.

Posted by: Emmie at December 27, 2023 12:02 PM (Sf2cq)

174 The two scariest words in the English language: experts say
---
As Sowell said, "For every expert, there is an equal and opposite expert. But for every fact, there is not an equal and opposite fact."

Which is why our media has replaced facts with experts; you can't read a single news article without some "expert" being quoted.

Posted by: People's Hippo Voice - Personality Commentator at December 27, 2023 12:02 PM (WFCaJ)

175 I guess my point is that these people have already managed to thoroughly suppress open discourse about public policy. I have watched the American people, mostly but certainly not exclusively on the Right, grow drastically quieter than when I was a kid. And I'm not so many years older than 29.

With what they've already achieved with very little use of force, people are deeply uncomfortable expressing any dangerous ideological heterodoxy, no matter how mild, or broadly supported.

It's not a far leap to say "any data not reported in Party media is bad and people who know things we didn't report are bad," and in very short order, public discourse among normies will go extinct.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at December 27, 2023 12:02 PM (0FoWg)

176 "fixation w/venn diagrams."

Oh I love venn diagrams!
Who doesn't love ven diagrams!

Posted by: Kneepads Harris at December 27, 2023 12:02 PM (Rn/yD)

177 Always with the "threat to democracy." These people need a new record because theirs is clearly broken. But what is "misinformation?" What is "fake news?" Misinformation - or disinformation or the new-fangled "malinformation" - is whatever the power class doesn't like.

-----------------

Not to mention the largest purveyor of such misinformation is certainly the Federal Government.

Posted by: MAGA_Ken at December 27, 2023 12:02 PM (++4z6)

178 I wonder if that Minority Science ever noticed that a falling body accelerates?

Posted by: Ciampino - Common Core Science - KISS at December 27, 2023 12:03 PM (qfLjt)

179 Ask Amy Schumer?
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at December 27, 2023 11:53 AM (Q0kLU)

Did someone call me?

Posted by: Carlos Mencia at December 27, 2023 12:03 PM (TcM3i)

180 Mannix!

*jazzy music plays*

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, anti-Marxist, buy ammo and keep your rifle by your side at December 27, 2023 12:03 PM (xcxpd)

181 171 alt.tyrants.propaganda

Thanks

Posted by: L - They don't have to outrun the bear, they only need to outrun us - for now at December 27, 2023 12:03 PM (GshMh)

182 Where do the undead shop for clothes?

Aberzombie & Fitch
Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at December 27, 2023 12:01 PM (zxP/x)

Booooo!!!!

*Throws rotten tomatoes*

BOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

Posted by: The Wolves In The Majority at December 27, 2023 12:04 PM (1Yy3c)

183 2 + 2 == white supremacy

Posted by: ShainS -- I saw the Crotch Goblins open for Poetic Ammo at December 27, 2023 12:05 PM (pQndl)

184 Thanks
Posted by: L - They don't have to outrun the bear, they only need to outrun us - for now at December 27, 2023 12:03 PM (GshMh)
++++
It was a joke. A play on the old Usenet hierarchical naming scheme.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at December 27, 2023 12:05 PM (zxP/x)

185 This is on point. A thread about how you damn conservatives because suicidal and homicidal by refusing to march in step during the pandemic.

http://tinyurl.com/5ymr2tpv

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter Here at December 27, 2023 12:05 PM (FVME7)

186 In other news, at least Kristen Aguirre is in a tight green top on my crappy local news, showing off her big bewbs.

Posted by: anchorbabe fashion cop at December 27, 2023 12:07 PM (ufFY8)

187 142 The solution is easy. Just ask yourself, what would Claudine Gay do?
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter Here at December 27, 2023 11:49 AM (FVME7)

butt stuff?

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, anti-Marxist, buy ammo and keep your rifle by your side at December 27, 2023 12:08 PM (xcxpd)

188
In the year 2002 when George Bush (R) was in office a covid type virus went around the world to not much fanfare. Medical personnel were aware of it and took precautions but it was not easily spread and died out fairly quickly.

Over the next nearly two decades efforts were made to create a virus for that strain. Fauci has been captured on video admitting the effort for that period of time. As to why China was experimenting with it and the version they released had higher communicability and lethality?

Posted by: Divide by Zero at December 27, 2023 12:08 PM (enJYY)

189 This is on point. A thread about how you damn conservatives because suicidal and homicidal by refusing to march in step during the pandemic.

http://tinyurl.com/5ymr2tpv
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter Here at December 27, 2023 12:05 PM (FVME7)
++++
You can Monday-morning quarterback the pandemic forever -- there are plenty of legit criticisms of public officials & policies -- but in the end there was never any chance that the right wouldn't erupt with fury over it. Their worldview is based on hierarchy & dominance ...
... & the structure of a pandemic calls for the opposite of that. They needed, on a deep psychological level, to reject the call for solidarity; they worked backward from that to all the (shifting, often nonsensical) reasons. They would -- & did! -- choose death over solidarity.

"You didn't submit to my dominance, which is just because you're a bastard beholden to your own constant rage. This makes me extremely angry."

There is a certain irony here.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at December 27, 2023 12:08 PM (zxP/x)

190 186 In other news, at least Kristen Aguirre is in a tight green top on my crappy local news, showing off her big bewbs.
Posted by: anchorbabe fashion cop at December 27, 2023 12:07 PM (ufFY

You could fit an entire ham in that mouth tho...

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, anti-Marxist, buy ammo and keep your rifle by your side at December 27, 2023 12:09 PM (xcxpd)

191 Interesting that Forbes takes time to go after the masks, after almost every reputable organization has confirmed they made no difference - as did social distancing, and probably the vax as well.

That is the beauty of the elite, they are so blind you wonder how they get out the door every morning.

Posted by: Black JEM at December 27, 2023 12:10 PM (GZYu7)

192 It's not a far leap to say "any data not reported in Party media is bad and people who know things we didn't report are bad," and in very short order, public discourse among normies will go extinct.
---
Yup.
The left is already there. Anything from "Faux News" or labeled a right-wing source is not even considered, no matter how factual or accurate.
If it's not reported on MSNBC, it's not True.

What really creeps me out is, they know this, they know facts are being withheld. And ... they don't care.
They are perfectly conditioned to watch their neighbors being dragged from their homes into unmarked cars, close the blinds, and turn on CNN to be be assured all is well.

Posted by: People's Hippo Voice - Personality Commentator at December 27, 2023 12:10 PM (WFCaJ)

193 You didn't submit to my dominance,

Dominance... submission.

Posted by: Blue Oyster Cult at December 27, 2023 12:10 PM (ufFY8)

194 Back in the day my parents bought a set of Collier's Encyclopedia (the Kaboom of encyclopedia).

It was always "look it up" they wanted their money's worth out that set.

Posted by: Field Marshal Zhukov at December 27, 2023 12:10 PM (nnp+f)

195 Off topic a little:
I wonder what 2+2 = in minority arithmetic?

Posted by: Common Core Arithmetic - KISS at December 27, 2023 11:59 AM (qfLjt)

-----------

Out: Ebonics.
In: Ebomatics & Economics (a black variation of Bidenomics).

Posted by: ShainS -- I saw the Crotch Goblins open for Poetic Ammo at December 27, 2023 12:10 PM (pQndl)

196 *Ebonomics! Fucking auto-cucumber ...

Posted by: ShainS -- I saw the Crotch Goblins open for Poetic Ammo at December 27, 2023 12:11 PM (pQndl)

197 During the covid show, I mentioned to a friend, a mask wearer, that the mask was trapping bad stuff, and even if not sick it would act like a petri dish, breeding bad things. She said "experts" said to wear it. Triple vaxed, now down with the flu, admits it's just the flu, and has ditched the mask.

Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at December 27, 2023 12:11 PM (0EOe9)

198 & the structure of a pandemic calls for the opposite of that. They needed, on a deep psychological level, to reject the call for solidarity; they worked backward from that to all the (shifting, often nonsensical) reasons.

They would -- & did! -- choose death over solidarity.

Except purebloods didn't die.

Posted by: rickb223 at December 27, 2023 12:12 PM (NeGkf)

199 Interesting that Forbes takes time to go after the masks, after almost every reputable organization has confirmed they made no difference - as did social distancing, and probably the vax as well.

That is the beauty of the elite, they are so blind you wonder how they get out the door every morning.
Posted by: Black JEM at December 27, 2023 12:10 PM (GZYu7)
++++
They didn't. That was from MIT, from a paper published in 2021.

But both the MIT paper and this new paper in "Nature" are making, in essence, the same argument. Both assert that people must not be permitted to pursue counter-narrative ideas.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at December 27, 2023 12:12 PM (zxP/x)

200 A recent example of "misinformation", which the Irish government was aggressively moving to suppress, was the news that the guy who stabbed kids at a school in Dublin was an immigrant from Algeria who had lived in Ireland for twenty years and had been subject to a deportation order, and had never worked during the time he was in Ireland.

This was all completely true, but the Irish government wanted people to believe that he was simp0ly an "Irish citizen" (his deportation order was set aside, and he was granted Irish citizenship), so it was "disinformation" to provide true facts to the Irish people.

Posted by: The ARC of History! at December 27, 2023 12:12 PM (YAtuc)

201 You could fit an entire ham in that mouth tho...

Yeah, she is a bit of a porker.

I have a mini-crush on the evening news chick, Jessica Harthorn. She has a plain Jane look, but weirdly sexy to me.

Posted by: anchorbabe fashion cop at December 27, 2023 12:12 PM (ufFY8)

202 I had an encounter on Reddit like this. Someone said red states are losing people to blue states. I replied and said da fuq are you talking about the fastest growing states are all red. And provided a link showing it.

The replies back were along the lines of this is just right wing propaganda, red states are bleeding people and everyone knows this is true.

That's the left on everything now. They genuinely believe Trump/Russia, that he's raped hundreds of women, and that Donald is the father of Ivanka's kids. If you post cites to the contrary they're "right wing propaganda", up to and including CNN.

Posted by: Ian S. at December 27, 2023 12:12 PM (FD5dr)

203 This was all completely true, but the Irish government wanted people to believe that he was simp0ly an "Irish citizen" (his deportation order was set aside, and he was granted Irish citizenship), so it was "disinformation" to provide true facts to the Irish people.
Posted by: The ARC of History! at December 27, 2023 12:12 PM (YAtuc)
++++
This is textbook "Malinformation."

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at December 27, 2023 12:13 PM (zxP/x)

204 Their worldview is based on hierarchy & dominance ...

They needed, on a deep psychological level, to reject the call for solidarity

How can the same person write those two sentences one after the other and not notice that they're contradictory?

Posted by: Oddbob at December 27, 2023 12:13 PM (sNc8Y)

205 How can the same person write those two sentences one after the other and not notice that they're contradictory?
Posted by: Oddbob at December 27, 2023 12:13 PM (sNc8Y)
++++
Being a leftist means you don't have the obligation of thinking.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at December 27, 2023 12:13 PM (zxP/x)

206
You didn't submit to my dominance,

Dominance... submission.

Posted by: Blue Oyster Cult

Radios appear

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at December 27, 2023 12:14 PM (63Dwl)

207 As Sowell said, "For every expert, there is an equal and opposite expert. But for every fact, there is not an equal and opposite fact."

Which is why our media has replaced facts with experts; you can't read a single news article without some "expert" being quoted.
Posted by: People's Hippo Voice
-------

Or quoting 'Studies have shown...'.

So far as references to 'experts', anyone who has been involved in any sort of liability suit will tell you that it is possible to seek out an 'expert' that will say anything that supports their case.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 27, 2023 12:14 PM (XeU6L)

208 "While academic science is traditionally a system for producing knowledge within a laboratory, validating it through peer review, and sharing results within subsidiary communities, anti-maskers reject this hierarchical social model."

Anti-maskers were the ones who pointed out that the "science" behind mask mandates was never tested in a laboratory, or validated through peer-review. It turns out, all peer-reviewed studies on the topic actually showed mask mandates to be in effective, though most of the "scientific" community tried to prevent these results from being shared with the community.

Posted by: tankdemon at December 27, 2023 12:14 PM (zpw81)

209 >>This is on point. A thread about how you damn conservatives because suicidal and homicidal by refusing to march in step during the pandemic.

Just as irrefutable evidence is coming out that the virus was indeed funded and directed by the US government.

Posted by: JackStraw at December 27, 2023 12:14 PM (ZLI7S)

210 Always with the "threat to democracy." These people need a new record because theirs is clearly broken.

"Democracy" means "rule by the Democrat Party". Once you know that answer key, everything they say makes perfect sense.

Posted by: Ian S. at December 27, 2023 12:14 PM (FD5dr)

211 Nood State Department shenanigans.

Posted by: The Wolves In The Majority at December 27, 2023 12:15 PM (1Yy3c)

212 The replies back were along the lines of this is just right wing propaganda, red states are bleeding people and everyone knows this is true.

That's the left on everything now. They genuinely believe Trump/Russia, that he's raped hundreds of women, and that Donald is the father of Ivanka's kids. If you post cites to the contrary they're "right wing propaganda", up to and including CNN.
Posted by: Ian S.

I'm seeing ways to make money betting.

Posted by: rickb223 at December 27, 2023 12:15 PM (NeGkf)

213 Kingdoms of the radio
Forty-five rpm.

Posted by: Blue Oyster Cult at December 27, 2023 12:15 PM (ufFY8)

214 The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

The left has run out of good intentions and are now quickly moving to paving with skulls.

As they always do ....

Posted by: People's Hippo Voice - Personality Commentator at December 27, 2023 12:16 PM (TzW+Y)

215 201 Plain Jane look, kinda like Laurie Metcalf.

Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at December 27, 2023 12:16 PM (0EOe9)

216 The replies back were along the lines of this is just right wing propaganda, red states are bleeding people and everyone knows this is true.

After all, millions of trannies are moving from red states to blue states, so it must be true.

Posted by: The ARC of History! at December 27, 2023 12:16 PM (YAtuc)

217 In the years 2009/2010, O and Joe's 1st administration:

Science Daily: H1N1 swine flu may play a role in triggering type 1 diabetes, Date: September 13, 2017
Source: Diabetologia
Summary: Infection with H1N1 influenza (also called swine flu) may put individuals, particularly children, at greater risk of subsequent type 1 diabetes, suggests new research.

I know of several very young children diagnosed with Type 1 after the flu epidemic.

But I also know several teenagers diagnosed with Type 1 during & after C19 main years. None of them exhibited any severe (or otherwise) C19 illness.

Posted by: L - They don't have to outrun the bear, they only need to outrun us - for now at December 27, 2023 12:16 PM (GshMh)

218 Anti-maskers were the ones who pointed out that the "science" behind mask mandates was never tested in a laboratory, or validated through peer-review. It turns out, all peer-reviewed studies on the topic actually showed mask mandates to be in effective, though most of the "scientific" community tried to prevent these results from being shared with the community.
Posted by: tankdemon at December 27, 2023 12:14 PM (zpw81)
++++
The problem with the "anti-maskers" wasn't that they were stupid or ignorant or had low standards or that they were unskilled. The problem was, in fact, the exact opposite of that.

They took the data, assessed it, charted it, controlled for variables and held each others' feet to the fire - sometimes viciously - in producing their analyses. The work product was, in fact, *excellent* on average. They did spectacular work.

But they were amateurs (most of them), they did it outside the university system and they rejected the narrative. That was the problem. The wrong kinds of people were doing good work and rejecting their betters.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at December 27, 2023 12:17 PM (zxP/x)

219 Interesting that Forbes takes time to go after the masks, after almost every reputable organization has confirmed they made no difference - as did social distancing, and probably the vax as well.

-------------

Both masks and jabs did make a difference: they were proven to actually be harmful.

Posted by: ShainS -- I saw the Crotch Goblins open for Poetic Ammo at December 27, 2023 12:17 PM (pQndl)

220 How can the same person write those two sentences one after the other and not notice that they're contradictory?
Posted by: Oddbob at December 27, 2023 12:13 PM (sNc8Y)
++++
Being a leftist means you don't have the obligation of thinking.
Posted by: Joe Mannix
--------

Hypocrisy is one of the pillars of the Left/Progressive mindset.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 27, 2023 12:17 PM (XeU6L)

221 South Korean Star of Parasite found dead in a car in Seoul. Apparently a drug suicide?

Why was that 45 second story on my local news?

Such garbage filler.

Posted by: Deplorable Ian Galt at December 27, 2023 12:17 PM (ufFY8)

222 Want to go way up in the disinfo/misinformation food chain?
Guy name of Patrick Bergey. Been there.
Lengthy interview, Shadowgate 2.0.
Millennial Millie dot com
Also was still recently available on utube searching the same.

Posted by: Teej at December 27, 2023 12:18 PM (spJU8)

223 Just as irrefutable evidence is coming out that the virus was indeed funded and directed by the US government.
Posted by: JackStraw at December 27, 2023 12:14 PM (ZLI7S)

It's funny how many of those things that were being said early on, are now trickling out.

People seem to think these monsters are stupid, but their formula works, over and over again. Do something, lie about it, when people try to tell the truth, silence them, get the chorus to all sing in unison the narrative they want out there, and eventually, when the truth is allowed out of its dungeon, nobody cares anymore.

Rinse, repeat.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 27, 2023 12:18 PM (TcM3i)

224 127 One of the sadder parts about that study coming out of MIT is that as a kid, I thought of MIT and Cal Tech as the absolute pinnacle of human intellectural achievement. A place where math ruled, and an assertion was either proven or shown to be false.

How the mighty have fallen, and taken our beloved country with them.

Posted by: Candidus at December 27, 2023 11:44 AM (Ya7DW)
----
Those were my exact impressions at the time I was in grad school in Africa. Now? What a let down. When the American Chemical Society and the American Physical Society jumped on the AGW bandwagon is when I resigned.

Posted by: Ciampino - Acid Rain and Ice Age at December 27, 2023 12:18 PM (qfLjt)

225 Climate research, renewables and circularity

***********

Circularity, as in circle-jerking?

Posted by: Sasquatch, the Original Trans-Wookie at December 27, 2023 12:19 PM (xxG/v)

226 And outta here for at least a couple of hours.
Love each other fellow babies

Posted by: Teej at December 27, 2023 12:19 PM (spJU8)

227 What most people seem to mean when they say they are "doing their own research" is "doing an internet search". What I think most (many? some?) here mean is "looking at a bit of information with a healthy dose of skepticism, comparing it with other sources or my own prior understanding and experience, and reading the source material with a critical eye while also testing my own prior assumptions."

It's not infallible, but it's a good place to start.

Old: Trust but verify
New: Doubt but verify

Posted by: Muldoon at December 27, 2023 12:21 PM (991eG)

228 Your dad could say "look it up" because:
1) your questions were not ones of opinion, generally, but of fact;
2) you had authoritative sources to use; and
3) those sources were not actively trying to get you to believe a certain way (or disclosed that they were).
Also, those sources were fewer and less flaky because it was hard and expensive to publish things like Encyclopedias, so they worked to get things right.

Note that they violate the first point with their "study." (And, yes, then it bled over to actual facts, too, as the "experts" flat out lied about things like HCQ and ivermectin.)
Then publishing got so easy with the internet, that any fool could afford to put info out there. That certainly plays a part in all of this.
But they exploit the "authoritative sources" part. As Progressivism pushed "experts" into Lysenkoism, the authority was undermined, and Wuhan Flu revealed the termite damage. It revealed they were working you toward a point-of-view, which was less reality and more reality-is-what-we-tell-you-it-is.

Posted by: GWB at December 27, 2023 12:21 PM (sSx7k)

229 2 + 2 = 5 for large values of 2

You can tell you're among those who do arithmetic for a living when you see this put forward as a "minority" joke. Spend some time among actual mathematicians, and you'll quickly find that they do not believe in objective reality. They make imagist poets look sensible. You just -- plain -- don't know any.

Mathematicians are perfectly willing to "redefine values," to include what a number means, if that's what it takes to make the problem interesting. Every time junior coding associates bump their heads against theoretical math, they try to blame it on the philosophers.

Posted by: Way, Way Downriver at December 27, 2023 12:23 PM (FCs/J)

230 Willoowed:

roué has only one 'o'

Muldooon's keybooard has oone toouchy 'o' key.

Posted by: Muldoon at December 27, 2023 12:23 PM (991eG)

231 Plain Jane look, kinda like Laurie Metcalf.
Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at December 27, 2023 12:16 PM (0EOe9)

My mom!!

Posted by: Dr Sheldon Cooper PHD at December 27, 2023 12:24 PM (iODuv)

232 Well, the pro crime lobby is up to it again.

Convicted Felon Washington Lawmaker Proposes Bill Allowing Judges to Reduce Sentences for Violent Offenders
. . . .
One of the sponsors of the legislation is Democratic Rep. Tarra Simmons, a former convict who has previously worked to restore voting rights to those convicted of felonies and to reduce penalties for drive-by shootings to promote "racial equity," even as the state has grappled with a spike in crime and record homicides.

http://tinyurl.com/p4chha8e

Well, drive by shootings are a victimless crime.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter Here at December 27, 2023 12:24 PM (FVME7)

233 And this is why we still need dead tree books. Unless a publisher's operative comes to your house and forcibly wrests a dead tree book out of your library, there is no way for either a publisher or the government can change what is written in that book. They can label what is in that book anything they want,but they can't change the words.

A computer publication is just begging for sneak attacks of revisionism or simple removal. I know of at least one Instance where Amazon pushed a button and a certain book totally vanished from everyones' Kindle and online storage. Any time it wishes, the Feds can "edit" an ebook or delete it totally.

Posted by: Captain Josepha Sabin -- I stand with Israel and all Jews everywhere at December 27, 2023 12:25 PM (6TzTY)

234 In the year 2002 when George Bush (R) was in office a covid type virus went around the world to not much fanfare. Medical personnel were aware of it and took precautions but it was not easily spread and died out fairly quickly.
Posted by: Divide by Zero at December 27, 2023 12:08 PM (enJYY)

Yeah, SARS-1.
Which is where the incredibly rapid research came from about HCQ. Some Frenchies decided to check and see if what worked well on SARS-1 also worked on what was called by some SARS-2. And IT DID!

And, almost immediately, some "experts" started working to squash it. I would personally like to know why before they meet the rope. But it isn't a prerequisite to them meeting said rope.

Posted by: GWB at December 27, 2023 12:25 PM (sSx7k)

235 Tarra Simmons, a former convict who has previously worked to restore voting rights to those convicted of felonies and to reduce penalties for drive-by shootings to promote "racial equity," even as the state has grappled with a spike in crime and record homicides.
--------------
Wouldn't the way to reach racial equity in drive by shootings is for whitey to drive by and shoot?

Posted by: Pudinhead at December 27, 2023 12:26 PM (pZ64F)

236 There is a certain irony here.
Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at December 27, 2023 12:08 PM (zxP/x)

Not irony. PROJECTION.

Posted by: GWB at December 27, 2023 12:26 PM (sSx7k)

237 Interesting that Forbes takes time to go after the masks, after almost every reputable organization has confirmed they made no difference - as did social distancing, and probably the vax as well.

That is the beauty of the elite, they are so blind you wonder how they get out the door every morning.
Posted by: Black JEM at December 27, 2023 12:10 PM (GZYu7)
++++
They didn't. That was from MIT, from a paper published in 2021.

But both the MIT paper and this new paper in "Nature" are making, in essence, the same argument. Both assert that people must not be permitted to pursue counter-narrative ideas.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at December 27, 2023 12:12 PM (zxP/x)
==
I wasn't clear - that Forbes in the recent article chose to reference anti-masking - surprised me. I knew from the beginning masks were garbage because I work with masks in occupational safety - we all knew they didn't work. I appreciate all the smart people were told to say they worked. You'd think this most recent author from Forbes could work up a better example.

Posted by: Black JEM at December 27, 2023 12:29 PM (GZYu7)

238 nood

Posted by: andycanuck (2yu8s) at December 27, 2023 12:29 PM (2yu8s)

239 When critically reading an article, in order to check for circularity, apply Möbius' razor.

Posted by: Muldoon at December 27, 2023 12:30 PM (991eG)

240 Both masks and jabs did make a difference: they were proven to actually be harmful.

Posted by: ShainS -- I saw the Crotch Goblins open for Poetic Ammo at December 27, 2023 12:17 PM (pQndl)
==
Well, the data on masks causing harm is a little less forceful, though there is at least some cause to wonder. On the vax, yeah, its a net negative. Continuing data comes out challenging its benefits at all, even in response to the initial strains it was developed to combat. And the flu vaccine is getting another look as to how effective it really is. My fear is there are some vaccines that are in fact vaccines, and very useful, and the bastardization of the term is going make everyone suspicious of taking any of them.

Posted by: Black JEM at December 27, 2023 12:35 PM (GZYu7)

241 And speaking of the problems of "look it up", many,many years ago, when I was still plugging away at my BS, the syllabus of every history course I took specified that if a certain fact could be found in three or more sources, it could be accepted as " common knowledge " and inserted into your paper without citation. But two or only one required a footnote.

To this day,I will chase around for several accounts of an event just to make sure all my geese are lined up properly. (And, no, Wiki is not a goose, but some other exotic bird.)

This method of research is open to anyone. You don't need special training to hunt up most information, just enough unwillingness to accept the first "fact" that shows up on your radar screen.

Posted by: Captain Josepha Sabin -- I stand with Israel and all Jews everywhere at December 27, 2023 12:40 PM (6TzTY)

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