The problem is that we have a combination of denialism (I don’t believe anything!) and utter credulity (I believe everything!) There is a lack of critical thinking skills. Why isn’t this taught in schools, you might ask? Weeeelll… not to be cynical but if we did it would kick the slats out from under most of our public discourse. Politics and religion especially would never be the same.
How do we properly evaluate a truth claim?
What actually constitutes evidence?
Under what conditions should we withhold judgement?
etc
There is a lack of critical thinking skills.
They do seem to be in decline. People also seem not to know much.
They watch videos instead of reading articles/books, they use search engines to find answers instead of going through a passage, and of course, AI.
You know the thing I’m most proud of in my teaching career is not the students who became proficient in English but those whose critical thinking skills I helped to develop.
Whenever I think of Mars, I can’t help but think of how excited my astronomy-obsessed dad was with the Viking program. I remember* seeing images from it on our recently bought color TV in the mid 70s.
Stephen, thanks for that. I’ll have a look.
I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised they don’t see the obvious con in the vanishing evidence – they want to believe. At least in the shell game, you’re shown a ball at the beginning and end – here, there’s nothing at all.
*I tend to be less certain of my memories the further back they go in time. Having said that, I’m reasonably confident of one of my earliest, of a black and white TV with a rabbit-ear aerial, set to the ** you do not have permission to see this link **. At least we lost to Koufax.
Here’s an interesting article at the wonderful site Public Domain Review. It includes nice maps of Mars with all the imaginary canals done by the “observers”. Lowell’s books are still interesting to read. And they were very influential. H G Well’s descriptions of Mars and the Martians in War of the Worlds were heavily dependent on Lowell’s ideas.
** you do not have permission to see this link **
You’ll want to bookmark the PDR site and explore it at your leisure. A veritable embarrassment of riches. What the Internet is for!
I’m afraid to mention here discussions of remnants of rectangular structures on Mars by Elon Musk and Avi Loeb on Joe Rogan podcasts.
One has to wonder why the two didn’t discuss the ** you do not have permission to see this link **
And while were at it, isn’t it time for a thorough investigation of the ** you do not have permission to see this link ** at the top of Antarctica? Who built it? Where does it lead to?
Sagan, obviously working as a propagandist for the powers that be, does his level best to ** you do not have permission to see this link **things away:
“Sagan said that finding ** you do not have permission to see this link ** (where patterns exist or not) was a vital precautionary survival skill, but could lead to the misinterpretation of random images or patterns of light as faces and familiar objects. In this case, people are seeing a square structure in the rocks and shadows on Mars, in a photo taken in 2001.”
After doing a little looking into some of the people who have influenced Jordan Crowder, I happened upon ** you do not have permission to see this link **
Here’s what they say are their goals:
- To find and expose bunk
- To prevent bunk from forming and spreading.
- To develop and promote efficient methods of finding, exposing, and preventing bunk
- To create re-usable debunkings (antibunk)
- To help people escape the rabbit hole, either directly, or by giving tools to their friends
After doing a little looking into some of the people who have influenced Jordan Crowder, I happened upon ** you do not have permission to see this link **
Interesting site. Worth a bookmark. (I wonder if that term will still be used a hundred years from now when no one clearly remembers what a book actually was.
)
Sad to see that speculation about the collapse of the Twin Towers is still a thriving industry. Drones over Copenhagen! And UFOs – sorry, UAPs, like the poor, we have with us always.
Do any of these conspiracies ever die? At least, can’t they fade away?
Sorry to saddle you with another book, but have you ever read Charles Mackay’s ** you do not have permission to see this link ** from, sigh, 1841? Mackay was a friend of Dickens and covered the American Civil war for British newspapers. His account of the 17th century “Tulip mania” in the Netherlands is worth the price of the book alone. The book has long been in the public domain. I’m pretty sure you can find a free copy online for download.
Each and every recommendation is appreciated.
I will say the topics on which I read tend to be like the “wind blows where it pleases.”
For the first time in ages, I’m mainly reading fiction (Modern Hebrew novels). I’d like to begin to branch into its poetry as well, of which I know not a thing. However, I am doing a little non-fiction reading (Weill’s book mentioned in Post 3), so this might be next on the list. I’m also considering getting ** you do not have permission to see this link **is another possibility.
BDEhrman
FreedomBen
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Robert
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