The age of ignorance

[Paul98]

I don't think it's that we are more ignorant in general, but the ignorant and those that chose to manipulate them have a much larger stage.

Before you might believe something that is wrong, or have no knowledge on something. Now you have a large group actively promoting bad information, and many who don't have information on the subject will be quick to believe what ever they see or read.

Then you have the echo chambers, where one bad article can get picked up by a ton of different sources which only reinforce the incorrect or badly misleading information.

 

[Subyman]

I think too many people quit trying to understand those around them after about age 15. I'm constantly amazed how people will entrench themselves in issues. Debate was never about winning, it was about sussing out the best answer, which is typically not what anyone started with. Now most people just yell past each other trying to "win." You get nowhere when you decide immediately what to think and never accept new evidence.

 

[theeedude]

If you want truth, don't look for it on TV. Maybe public television. But for profit TV is in business of selling brainwashing services. If presenting truth interferes with that, truth will lose every time.

 

[squarecut1]

If you want truth, don't look for it on TV. Maybe public television. But for profit TV is in business of selling brainwashing services. If presenting truth interferes with that, truth will lose every time.

There are stupid things, then there is garbage, and then there is American commercial TV

 

[piasabird]

So is it all the intelligent people that purchase the Cigarettes and Booze?

 

[OverVolt]

If you want truth, don't look for it on TV. Maybe public television. But for profit TV is in business of selling brainwashing services. If presenting truth interferes with that, truth will lose every time.

The internet is this way too you know?

 

[theeedude]

The internet is this way too you know?

The internet has much more information and perspectives. TV is a very lossy filtering of that information into a format that can fit into the broadcasting constraints. The information is there on the internet, you just have to find and filter it yourself. On TV, it's already been filtered the way the editors saw fit, and in a way that reflects their organization's interests.

 

[Subyman]

You really get to understand how dumb the TV "experts" are when they start discussing a topic you know a lot about. Best one was when a "Technology Expert" thought 4Chan was a person.

 

[Exterous]

The internet is this way too you know?

But the internet (likely) hasn't been pre-filtered for you. You can much more easily vet the 'experts' and 'studies' that are cited on the internet than those shown on TV. Hell - the NBC chief medical correspondent violated an Ebola quarantine to go visit her favorite soup restaraunt

 

[Moonbeam]

What I find most striking is that whenever I have had the chance to talk to people from other countries (Europeans, Indians, Pakistanis, Arabs etc), they seem to be so much more well informed about the world than Americans.

One reason I think is the domestic insular tradition of America (even though we have meddled all over the world). The second reason is that the media here is not to inform anyone. They do the thinking for their audience. Tell them this is what it is, this is what to think - instead of actually presenting anything with anything even approaching objectivity and letting people form their own views.

There is greater access to information than ever before - thanks to internet and various gadgets and what not. America continues to have a first class library system. Yet the level of ignorance has never been greater.

Americans are frightened cage runners that spend all their time worrying about making money. They call it 'work ethic' but it's just servitude with a fancy name.

 

[squarecut1]

Americans are frightened cage runners that spend all their time worrying about making money. They call it 'work ethic' but it's just servitude with a fancy name.

There is a lot of truth there. You realize it even more when you compare America with other cultures - pretty much any other culture, first or third world - who seem to realize there is more to life than making money and collecting possessions.

Then there is the over arching Culture of Fear running deep in America - which feeds into a lot of ignorance as well.

 

[unokitty]

 

[squarecut1]

And that is exactly how we are. And people think the government and politicians are stupid. They are anything but stupid.

 

[Smoblikat]

And that is exactly how we are. And people think the government and politicians are stupid. They are anything but stupid.

No, a lot of them are stupid, there is a minute select few who are smarter than the rest of them, those are the ones to watch out for.

 

[silicon]

The scarier part is how people wear their ignorance like a badge of honor.

people like to stay in their comfort zone even one that is ignorant.

 

[disappoint]

Americans are frightened cage runners that spend all their time worrying about making money. They call it 'work ethic' but it's just servitude with a fancy name.

That's not all they worry about. Half of them also worry about praying to the almighty because they just can't wait to tell him what to do. The other half can't wait to kiss his ass to stay on his good side.