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A media-fueled social panic over unmarked graves

quillette.com

11–20 of 209 posts

Re: A media-fueled social panic over unmarked graves

#11
post #7

same as with covid, which is dangerous but not anymore so than many other preventable causes of death that are completely ignored instead of hyped as the end-of-the-world. we are truly in an age of perpetual unfounded social panic. thanks twitter. as with most other problems, more educated people, especially regarding science, math and specifically statistics could help prevent these foolishnesses.

The amount of lies during COVID is worthy of an entire book.

This decently sums it up: https://www.piratewires.com/p/neurotic?s=r

Re: A media-fueled social panic over unmarked graves

#12
post #10
post #7

same as with covid, which is dangerous but not anymore so than many other preventable causes of death that are completely ignored instead of hyped as the end-of-the-world. we are truly in an age of perpetual unfounded social panic. thanks twitter. as with most other problems, more educated people, especially regarding science, math and specifically statistics could help prevent these foolishnesses.

I used to believe that more education would help, but today it seems that the most educated are most likely to spread these dangerous kinds of misinformation, whereas uneducated people are most likely to question it. The educated seem to be more dangerous if for no other reason than they control the media.

Something I have noticed too, and it seems to be a common trend many are noticing. What do you think causes it? Anyone know any studied terms to explain this?

My thinking was that "smart" people are busier and outsource their thinking in other aspects to media they can trust. If that media lies to them, they are smart, so they don't want to admit they were wrong. They are too smart to be fooled! But I don't know if that explanation holds up.

Re: A media-fueled social panic over unmarked graves

#13
post #7

same as with covid, which is dangerous but not anymore so than many other preventable causes of death that are completely ignored instead of hyped as the end-of-the-world. we are truly in an age of perpetual unfounded social panic. thanks twitter. as with most other problems, more educated people, especially regarding science, math and specifically statistics could help prevent these foolishnesses.

> covid, which is dangerous but not anymore so than many other preventable causes of death

… if you’re vaccinated.

Re: A media-fueled social panic over unmarked graves

#14
post #10
post #7

same as with covid, which is dangerous but not anymore so than many other preventable causes of death that are completely ignored instead of hyped as the end-of-the-world. we are truly in an age of perpetual unfounded social panic. thanks twitter. as with most other problems, more educated people, especially regarding science, math and specifically statistics could help prevent these foolishnesses.

I used to believe that more education would help, but today it seems that the most educated are most likely to spread these dangerous kinds of misinformation, whereas uneducated people are most likely to question it. The educated seem to be more dangerous if for no other reason than they control the media.

> the most educated are most likely to spread these dangerous kinds

good observation and i completely see your point, but are those people really educated in a scientific sense (and know their confidence intervals) or did they just finish their liberal arts degree and learn some french words?

Re: A media-fueled social panic over unmarked graves

#15

It’s crazy how when a lie takes hold, it just stays forever. Another is relayed to January 6th protests. A friend today, a conservative DeSantis supporter, told me that he knew that on January 6th, the protestors killed several police officers. This is, as we know now, absolutely false. It was based on a rumor, and once the reporting caught up, it turned out to be false. Similarly I’m sure there will be Canadians who…

Not to mention the Great Lie of brown is black

Re: A media-fueled social panic over unmarked graves

#18
post #16

Quick look at sources from Wikipedia confirms that the articles’ basic assumptions have a rather loose association with facts. And the site itself is known for propagating hoaxes and promoting alt-right (Noah Carl).

> the articles’ basic assumptions have a rather loose association with facts

Could you be more specific?

Re: A media-fueled social panic over unmarked graves

#20

It’s crazy how when a lie takes hold, it just stays forever. Another is relayed to January 6th protests. A friend today, a conservative DeSantis supporter, told me that he knew that on January 6th, the protestors killed several police officers. This is, as we know now, absolutely false. It was based on a rumor, and once the reporting caught up, it turned out to be false. Similarly I’m sure there will be Canadians who…

My teenage son was shocked when I told him that none of the three people Kyle Rittenhouse shot were black, and didn't believe me at first until he googled it (and even google showed, on every link, that both of the people he killed and the one he wounded were white). He told his friends, and they didn't believe him until they googled it.

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