tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6301096656497422535.post1626040683551444689..comments2023-12-17T13:05:30.543-08:00Comments on Brane Space: Spread of Flat Earther Nonsense Shows We Are In A Period Of Intellectual RegressionCopernicushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16699554476216140859noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6301096656497422535.post-42327779402981176092017-07-10T07:56:55.017-07:002017-07-10T07:56:55.017-07:00The difference is that Russian meddling in the 201...The difference is that Russian meddling in the 2016 election is a cold, hard FACT - as all the intel agencies have agreed on. It remains, however, to find out if the meddling (e.g. hacking, weaponized fake news) altered the outcome in any significant way. And now to further substantiate this we have the news Donald Jr. met with a foreign official to try to find out ways to undermine Clinton. As former CIA official Michael Morrell said this a.m. (CBS), when asked about the significance from a national security perspective:<br /><br />"I think it is highly inappropriate for an American campaign to meet with a foreign official, whether connected to a government or not. This is because it allows a foreign national to potentially influence the outcome of an election. So the meeting should never have happened."<br /><br />In this regard, it is never a good idea - no matter how much you think you know about the internet- to adopt the narrative of false equivalence if it doesn't apply. And it certainly doesn't here.Copernicushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16699554476216140859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6301096656497422535.post-46395938144784249362017-07-09T10:47:30.808-07:002017-07-09T10:47:30.808-07:00I don't think the flat earther phenomena is as...I don't think the flat earther phenomena is as much about rejecting science as it is about the tendency in this now fully mature Internet age to seek out people with whom you totally agree and only converse with them. Before the Internet, it would have been impossible for flat eaters, or say, Sandy Hook shooting deniers, to find like minded individuals who could reinforce their incredibly ignorant beliefs.<br /><br />On a larger scale, it is this atomization of opinion that is killing our politics. Very few people, be they liberal or conservative, ever entertain opinions that differ from their own. Go on any politics website and scan the comments, and you can almost predict what 90% of them will be before even reading them. Trump supporters will be there screaming "fake news!" while die hard Clintonites will be screaming about "Russian meddling," etc. For any story about a mass shooting, NRA talking points will be regurgitated verbatim. <br /><br />Thus has the wondrous Internet, which was supposed to bring us all together through increased common knowledge, actually driven us further apart. Bill Hickshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17551954408189665078noreply@blogger.com