Note: This is NOT a "political" post, even though some politically-related commentary will follow. Perhaps we should call it "apolitical" in the sense that there's no affiliation with any school of thought.
Onwards!
So I Heard This News Item...
The Internet and the airwaves are filled with "news stories" and commentaries on a wide range of subjects and opinions.
Oh my... those OPINIONS!
Currently, Mrs. Denmarkguy is off visiting a friend in Eastern Washington... very affluent family; very right-side, politically speaking... to the point of occasionally bordering on Q-anon conspiracies. She listens (mostly) politely to what is being said... not so much bothered by the actual viewpoints as by the fact that they are mostly unsubstantiated OPINIONS, presented as facts.
Meanwhile, the left side of the political arena seems to have gone off the rails in its obsession with being inclusive and offending nobody, ever, at all.
Opinion Soup, Anyone?
I find myself looking at this weird "opinion soup" while uneasily moving closer and closer to the uncomfortable reality that facts have become increasingly optional and/or unnecessary in our modern world.
In fact, facts (see what I did, there?) are becoming undesirable, or so it seems. I guess they are just not very "sexy."
Of course the "marketing machine" that drives pretty much everything in our world runs on emotion, not logic. And that applies, regardless of whether you are buying a toaster, a car, or voting for a political candidate.
The problem becomes that in the face of facts, people become less subject to manipulation.
When I am Voting for Someone...
... I don't give a hoot and a holler who they slept with or whether or not they smoke weed, I want to know whether they have the skill set to generate jobs, or build infrastructure, or whatever is the topic of the moment.
Similarly, when I buy a toaster, I want to know whether it does a good job of toasting bread and I don't give a flying flip whether it makes my penis look larger or makes me more likely to score a hot girlfriend.
"Way back when" we used to talk a lot about "Signal" and "Noise." In a broad sense, verifiable facts were considered "Signal" and *opinion was — for the most part — considered "Noise."
Seems Like it is ALL Noise...
The most dangerous and insidious part of noise is what I call "incomplete facts."
It's the taking of the positive parts from a set of data that's predominantly negative and wrapping it in a "story" that makes it sound like that handful of positive items represent the sum-total of the findings.
It's saying that "Adults between 31 and 40 saw a 10% rise in real income!" while ignoring that every other category experienced massive declines.
The left does it, all the time. The right does it, all the time.
Closing the Loop...
So Mrs. Denmarkguy is visiting her friend and hearing some "unusual" things. The bothersome part isn't so much what is being said as the fact that most of what is being said is more or less pulled out of thin air, or comes from obviously sketchy sources.
And yet, this whole family treats them as absolute facts.
Which leads me to the widespread "dysfunction factor" that seems to be running rampant in our world: Instead of facing and dealing with our less attractive and appealing attributes, biases and opinions, we instead find some kind of "proof" (noise) that will support our paradigm — however toxic and/or dysfunctional — so we don't have to actually stand in accountability.
Which is a bit depressing, really...
It strikes me as akin to people who'd rather believe they can lose 40lbs by petting a naked rat three times a day than by getting some exercise and eating less.
It worries me for the world, because we seem to be increasingly drowning in a mass overdose of opinions that support people's life paradigms, rather than the actual concrete facts of situations... and life-and-death decisions now hang on these opinions rather than facts because it has become all but impossible to even discern what's REALLY going on.
And with that thought, I'm going to head off to bed! Thanks for reading, and have a great Sunday!
How about you? Do you know what's REALLY going on in the world; in science, in medicine? Do you ever find yourself reaching for "a promising theory" rather than documented reality? Has "what IS" become so harsh that we choose to hide in remote possibility instead, because it feels better? Comments, feedback and other interaction is invited and welcomed! Because — after all — SOCIAL content is about interacting, right? Leave a comment — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!
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Created at 20220814 02:02 PDT
0631/1877