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How to stay sane in a world that rewards insanity

joanwestenberg.com

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Re: How to stay sane in a world that rewards insanity

#221

Post by hat_monger »

baxuz wrote: post #46
biophysboy wrote: post #36

The main issue for me is the size of our platforms. If the owner of a platform tries to enforce a set of virtues, it will always be seen as censorship by a fraction of its users. That fraction will increase as the user base increases, as the alternatives diminish, and as the owners govern with more impunity. I personally think these loud users are immature, disrespectful, anonymous cowards, but my opinions are irrele…

Nah, the solution is deanonymization. People with no shame, and with strong anti-social tendencies should not be given a safe space.

[dead]

Re: How to stay sane in a world that rewards insanity

#222

Post by lazide »

ricardobeat wrote: post #190
dspillett wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Jesus is not fictional. There is apparently evidence that there was a Jesus¹ who preached and was crucified for causing a pain for those in power. But the version of Jesus in the bible is likely no more real than the Abraham in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (2012). -------- [1] or someone going by another name which became Jesus over time, many names in the new testament are suspiciously unlike those likely to be…

Not at all. The bible is famously allegorical which is known by everyone who practices catholicism, but the historical evidence and written records are quite clear - there was this incredibly charismatic guy who grew a following, helped the poor and got crucified.

When you see the multiple conflicting written records, and actually look at the historical evidence, the only thing that is clear is that people keep curating what people read so they have ‘a clear written record’ that benefited them at the time. Not that the record was ever clear or unconflicted. Sometimes it was really obvious (Council of Nicea, the Anglican ‘reformation’, other times a lot more subtle - like check out what the Dead Sea scrolls say).

This should be especially clear for anyone that has studied the history of the Catholic Church, eh?

Frankly, while I’ve read many versions of the Bible (and a version of the Koran and Hadiths), the underlying theme that has always struck me is how apparent it is that at least the self-stated followers of the book i’ve met never have?

Or if they have, blanked out very large portions of it. Typically the most outspoken ones, anyway.

Re: How to stay sane in a world that rewards insanity

#223

Post by micromacrofoot »

spectralista wrote: post #208
micromacrofoot wrote: post #9

A lot of this goes away when you stop spending so much time on social media, which is a very poor reflection of "reality." Part of the problem is that there are a number of people who can't really look away, because they've built their livelihoods on it. Traditional media in many ways has come to rely on it too. Unfortunate mistake. Prominent figures on social media change their minds all the time, but they'll re-scu…

I haven't used social media in over a decade and I change my mind all the time. Changing your mind is a good thing for a thinking being. Social media figures aren't changing their mind in the same way, they are changing and optimizing their public performance. Professional social media is a paid performance. We understand that Tom Cruise is not really a highly skilled jet fighter pilot but a well paid actor playing t…

Right, it's not so much "changing minds" in that they probably aren't thinking about much very deeply... it's more like "changing to suit the popular narrative direction"

Re: How to stay sane in a world that rewards insanity

#225

Post by ekjhgkejhgk »

uniq7 wrote: post #193
ekjhgkejhgk wrote: post #112

> One friend became “convinced” that every major news story was manufactured consent. Another started treating political disagreement as evidence of moral corruption. A third began using the word "liberal" as if it was a personality disorder rather than loose coalitions of sometimes contradictory beliefs. Uh.... The vast majority of new stories from major outlets ARE manufactured consent.

What does "manufactured consent" mean? I thought consent is a synonym of agreement or willingness. If so, what do they mean with "manufactured agreement" exactly? I don't live in USA and English is not my mother language, so maybe I'm missing some alternative urban definition for this expression?

I understand what you're saying. But people who use the expression "manufactured consent" know that it comes from Chomsky and use it in the same sense as Chomsky did. It refers to the idea that the only debate that the media allows is that which doesn't challenge any actual power. Furthermore that expression also refers to the fact that this is achieved without anyone having to explicitly coerse the media. The individuals in it self-select to support with the agenda. You're allowed to be a revolutionary, but no one in the media will give you a job because they're all benefiting from the status quo and don't want to rock and boat.

For example, the left media hypes the democrats and the right media hypes the republicans. You're encouraged to debate which is better, because it doesn't actually change anything. But if there's a candidate that says "corporations have too much power and are using to exploit labour", both sides of the media will attack them.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manufacturing_Consent

Re: How to stay sane in a world that rewards insanity

#226

Post by bashmelek »

grodes wrote: post #156

[flagged]

I like the Bible too. It is unfortunate but not unexpected that it set off such a firestorm in the replies.

I would even go so far to say that even nonbelievers would find much value in it, just reading at least the top stories and passages the Old and New Testaments. These are foundational cultural texts that bridge centuries of peoples. And if you are a nonbeliever who wants to read beyond the popular well known parts, please do! But read with a mind to connect with others, not divide.

There are other good things to read too. Plato, Shakespeare, the Chinese Classics, Greek Mythology, folktales. Things that people share with those around them as well as their ancestors

Re: How to stay sane in a world that rewards insanity

#227

Post by lenkite »

grodes wrote: post #156

[flagged]

> One friend became “convinced” that every major news story was manufactured consent

There is nothing stupid about this and it is a massive problem with Western news. Different anchors across different networks presenting news with the same words as if they were handed off the exact same script to read out, to emphasize the same talking points, etc. They make AI slop look so good. I fully stopped watching US News a few years ago.

Re: How to stay sane in a world that rewards insanity

#228

Post by RunSet »

grodes wrote: post #156

[flagged]

> Read the Bible. Even if you do not believe, Jesus is the most impressive human I've ever learned about.

You might also find it edifying to learn about Socrates. His trial and punishment are as compelling as Jesus' and I his existence is more likely to be an historic fact.

Re: How to stay sane in a world that rewards insanity

#229

Post by abixb »

Switching a Japanese dumbphone (Kyocera) was the best thing I ever did. Eliminating your smartphone (as inconvenient and life altering as it may be -- you'll need to figure out a path) is probably the single most effective thing you can do to get into the top 1-10%... of people with properly functioning cognition.

Re: How to stay sane in a world that rewards insanity

#230

Post by cruffle_duffle »

BugsJustFindMe wrote: post #16

I have a hard time taking this kind of enlightened-centrist both-sides gruel very seriously. Calling every strong position "extreme" is a classic sleight-of-hand maneuver by people who want to mask their own wrong-side-of-history beliefs that they know they should feel ashamed of expressing. Yes, yes, look for truth beyond labeled groups, but pretending that the "sides" are equal is some utterly moronic "Fair and Bal…

It isn’t “us vs them”. It’s just “us”.

Mainstream media and social media polarize the fuck out of us and make everything so fucking toxic and tribal. Snap out of it!

We are all just people trying to make our way in this world with imperfect information and no instruction manual.

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