‘It’s mindblowing’: US meteorologists face death threats as hurricane conspiracies surge

2 years ago by MicroWave to c/news

Storms Helene and Milton have triggered rise of misinformation stoked by Trump and fellow Republicans

Meteorologists tracking the advance of Hurricane Milton have been targeted by a deluge of conspiracy theories that they were controlling the weather, abuse and even death threats, amid what they say is an unprecedented surge in misinformation as two major hurricanes have hit the US.

A series of falsehoods and threats have swirled in the two weeks since Hurricane Helene tore through six states causing several hundred deaths, followed by Milton crashing into Florida on Wednesday.

The extent of the misinformation, which has been stoked by Donald Trump and his followers, has been such that it has stymied the ability to help hurricane-hit communities, according to the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema).

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_haha_oh_wow_ 254 points 2 years ago

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ChocoboRocket 174 points 2 years ago

Killing education is definitely a big part of it, but controlling every news source in huge areas and pumping outright lies and disinformation 24/7 can eventually break down anyone living in that environment.

These people desperately cling to hierarchy. Bad people go to jail, good people don't.

These people never hear about Trump being bad, and only see him slip though the law effortlessly.

All they see is Trump being innocent and not getting in trouble at all, ever, for anything. Half of all politics and nearly all Media hide or obfuscate Trump's insanity and incompetence.

So many voters see a president everyone they know and talk to adores, getting dragged by Democrats to no effect.

"If he was guilty he'd be in Jail, but since he's not in jail Democrats must be liars and everything Republicans say about him is true."

Easy, thoughtless conclusions that reinforce their worldview and solidify them as supremely correct.

Now, they'll certainly move the goalposts once he is in Jail, because they will also never admit they were wrong about anything because if they're wrong about Trump, they're wrong about their entire worldview and that's something they are not mentally able to do.

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ininewcrow 42 points 2 years ago

Yet they're the same group that will accuse Russia, China and a whole bunch of other countries of lying to their citizens and controlling them with propaganda.

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floofloof 47 points 2 years ago

There's a long history of Americans and other Westerners thinking it's all those other countries that do propaganda. Meanwhile, the less propaganda you see, the more effectively the propaganda is working on you. Americans are some of the most propagandized people in the world.

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djsoren19 10 points 2 years ago

No, the same group will praise Russia for being strong and their citizens being in line, and will say something incredibly racist about China. These people aren't informed enough to have opinions about the police-states of other countries, and the talking heads at Fox News don't vomit one into their mouths.

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Baggins 9 points 2 years ago

They're not wrong with that bit though.

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Krauerking 5 points 2 years ago

Just another simple answer why they think people that should agree with them don't.

Just don't look to hard into it. Come up with or be told an easy answer and get on with the day.

People are horribly simple things for being so complicated as a whole.

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LillyPip 18 points 2 years ago

The damage Rupert Murdoch did to public discourse and society in general – not just in the US, but in the UK, Australia, and elsewhere – will take generations to recover from. That man was a cancer on all of us, and it seems his son is happily taking up the mantle.

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karashta 12 points 2 years ago

It's sad how true this rings.

And I'm not sure how much other people understand about how thick the bubble is that they've been submerged into.

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undergroundoverground 7 points 2 years ago

I think its a very specific kind of person myself. Noy necessarily stupid, although many of them are.

To me, the person they target the best is both A) people who are easy to wind up and B) the kind who'll, despite even knowing they know nothing about a given subject, will, if they hear something they just don't like, will declare it to be bullshit and will never, ever back down from that regardless.

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uis 1 point 2 years ago

Killing education is definitely a big part of it, but controlling every news source in huge areas and pumping outright lies and disinformation 24/7 can eventually break down anyone living in that environment.

"From long exposure to tv equipment those unlucky, who were left without intellect, will be on your side"

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oxjox 22 points 2 years ago

Nah. That's bullshit. You don't have to be a high school graduate to discern fact from fiction here. The issue is much deeper and broader. Anything the government does, the Democrat government does, is bad because they're out for you. You need to dig deeper in to why these people are falling prey to the brainwashing of the far right extremism and conspiracy theories. A lot of these people are very well educated. Fear of the unknown is far more powerful than a college degree. I'm not knowledgable enough on the subject but I'm sure a handful of books have been written about how people fell for Hitler's regime.

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_haha_oh_wow_ 32 points 2 years ago

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oxjox 0 points 2 years ago

From my experience, it seems to me that 99.9% of people commenting on the internet lack critical thinking. Looking at Reddit in particular, it's the comments that are the most outlandish or "popular" and often having little or nothing to do with the story they're commenting on that are risen to the top. No one cares about the actual news. They're engaged with headlines and chit chat. If the story takes a turn, if it no longer "supports their narrative", they turn tail and move on to the next thing to fume over.

We're generally focused on the maga crowd in the context of this story but the truth is that we are all subject to and fooled by misleading content. And when you, as an actual intelligent person with actual critical thinking skills, or just someone who read the article, tries to call attention to the fact that a headline is misleading or outright wrong, you get downvoted. So, why is that the case?

Also, fwiw, I have a shitty education, I'm not very smart, but I believe I have better critical thinking skills than the majority of people.

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Whats_your_reasoning 16 points 2 years ago

the truth is that we are all subject to and fooled by misleading content.

A perfect example of this is that recent claim that Geico stopped providing insurance for the Tesla “Cybertruck.” Tons of people, including many here on Lemmy, were quick to believe and share this story. A handful of users pointed out that the source couldn’t be verified, but those comments were drowned out by all the “Ha, take that, Musk!” comments.

It just goes to show that everyone is vulnerable to misinformation. If we want to claim to be well-informed, we have to question everything - even (or especially) the stories that reinforce our existing beliefs.

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dhork 6 points 2 years ago

Looking at Reddit in particular, it's the comments that are the most outlandish or "popular" and often having little or nothing to do with the story they're commenting on that are risen to the top.

Reddit is infested with bots, especially on the larger subs. If things are at the top, it's because someone paid for bots to get it there.

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LustyArgonianMana 2 points 2 years ago

A lot of people posting online have multiple accounts (so you're seeing the same person's opinion over and over) or are bots. And a large amount of people are also literal teenagers, who can't have much of a nuanced opinion because they don't know much. If you really really want better discussion, you have to find small niche forums around your personal interests. One of my favorite forums to lurk is the Ray Peat forum (biochemistry), the users are likely mostly unique because they have to pay to have an account, and it's noticeable how distinct everyone is. They also tend to argue a bit which is funny and interesting to me ("That's not very Ray Peat of you"). I am convinced going back to old internet style individual forums is the best way to make sure you are speaking with real people.

Any larger social media like Twitter, Lemmy, etc, will be subject to more capitalism and advertising and spam, so yeah, you'll feel frustrated and alone because it's like you're talking to an animatronic.

Unfortunately, I am not sure how to solve this with journalism and current events. There are likely journalists on Telegram and very secured channels networking, as well as more basic forums with news reporting. However, I'm not sure of any specifically that I could link.

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krashmo 8 points 2 years ago

You need to dig deeper in to why these people are falling prey to the brainwashing of the far right extremism and conspiracy theories

Why is it my job to try harder to understand them rather than their job to stop being such buffoons?

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oxjox -5 points 2 years ago

Because if you just keep calling them buffoons without giving a flying fuck about them, you are responsible for the divide. If you believe you're the more intelligent person, if you believe you are right, you have an obligation to listen to them and help them out of their mess. We have all been brainwashed for generations by corporate and government interests. None of us have a clear mind. We should all be working together and embracing each other in spite of our differences to rise up against our oppressors. Frankly, your question sounds just as stupid as they do. You can answer for yourself why you may or may not be interested being a helpful empathetic soul.

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krashmo 7 points 2 years ago

You seem to be under the impression that empathy and rationality will break through the divide and reach them. Why? My experiences over the last decade tell me that isn't remotely true. You make it sound like a noble goal, and maybe it is, but I don't think it's practical or realistic in any sense of those words.

They've abandoned reality in favor of delusion. You can't reach someone in that state of mind because they immediately label you as an other and stop listening. Call that judgment elitist if you like but I don't think it changes the truthfulness of the statement.

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explodes 137 points 2 years ago

Everything is a conspiracy when you don't know how anything works.

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Burn_The_Right 117 points 2 years ago

-Conservatives hate FEMA and want it dismantled.

-Conservatives hate the National Weather Service and want it dismantled.

-Conservatives hate climate science and want it to be silenced.

-Conservatives now also hate meteorologists.

How 'bout we compromise. Let conservative states be opted out of all of these things by default. Bundle these services into an opt-in government program called "Obama and Hillary's Woke Weather Service". They can opt in by calling 1-800-4 Pelosi. If all this stuff is just woke liberal propaganda, then they shouldn't mind this at all. They should be thrilled.

Let them find out about storms and let them deal with those storms without all of our woke liberal interference. Let them pray and let their God sort them out. In this way, they get everything they are demanding so they can stop whining like a bunch of little bitches all the time. When they have disasters, we can save some of our hard-earned money and just toss them a roll of paper towels like their dear leader likes to do.

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psoul 23 points 2 years ago

Honestly it would be funny to see Biden do some of this. He only has a few months left and can do whatever because of the supreme court. He could just go on TV an be like: “You know what? The conspiracies are true. We’re gonna turn off the doppler radars in southern states. No more flying. No more weather forecast. We’re going to ban farm laborers to come harvest your crops. The unpredicted weather is gonna ruin the crops anyways. We’re going to stop FEMA from giving aid in your republican states. Communism is unacceptable. We’re gonna ban fossil fuel in the south because that drives the weather crazy. No more cars. Enjoy the 1800s. Bye”

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BalooWasWahoo 24 points 2 years ago

can do whatever because of the supreme court

No he can't, because he's biden/democrat. The supreme court made it particularly clear that they get to be the arbiters of what is allowed. They are going to allow everything if the president is republican, and deny everything otherwise.

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acockworkorange 1 point 2 years ago

He can just murder the Supreme Court first. He’s effectively supreme dictator.

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lanolinoil 12 points 2 years ago

Hey -- I live here and can move but a lot of people are impoverished and can't. Feels wrong to collectively turn the back to them

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ZoopZeZoop 17 points 2 years ago

To those who disagree with the above:

Moving is damn expensive.
Don't forget that the Republicans are working hard to prevent legitimate voters from voting, namely anyone who is more likely to support NOAA, NHC, climate science, education, FEMA, etc.

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gamermanh 5 points 2 years ago

opt-in government program

Sounds like they're welcome to swallow their pride anytime in their plan

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Krauerking 8 points 2 years ago

They have forgotten we grouped up and share for the betterment of our species, not just ourselves.

They have forgotten what it's like to be without any support cause they have felt unsupported.

Its easy to feel invulnerable and capable when you still haven't been tested.

I pity them even though I don't want to give them money either.

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socsa 5 points 2 years ago

Conservatives can literally already choose not to consume or make decisions based on information from NOAA.

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Burn_The_Right 5 points 2 years ago

We can do better than that. We can make the data for their affected regions available only by logging into a system when their state has opted in. They don't want NOAA to exist, so there's no reason to bother them with information they don't want imposed upon them.

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ByteOnBikes 5 points 2 years ago

There was some maga posts who wanted to shoot up weather machines and people agreeing with it in the comments.

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Gammelfisch 3 points 2 years ago

I would send the crying shit stain loser MAGATs cheeseburgers and Diet Cokes. Do not waste a good tree product on them.

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KonalaKoala -16 points 2 years ago

In response to that, we could have.

-Progressives hate MAGA and want it dismantled.

-Progressives hate the National Rifle Association and want it dismantled.

-Progressives hate the Greed Over People and want it to be silenced.

-Progressives now also hate the Heritage Foundation.

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michaelmrose 23 points 2 years ago

All the things conservatives hate are non partisan services to humanity whereas the things you named are blights upon our nation.

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Knoxvomica 8 points 2 years ago

I mean, yes?

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Zink 6 points 2 years ago

It’s nice to put myself in the other person’s shoes like this every once in a while to double check that holy shit I have NOT been tricked into supporting the baddies.

(Relatively speaking, of course)

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andrewta 74 points 2 years ago

If you live in the south east and you are repeating conspiracy theories about the hurricane. May you rot in hell.

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ptz 48 points 2 years ago

If you live in the south east and you are repeating conspiracy theories about the hurricane. May you rot in hell.

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AhismaMiasma -9 points 2 years ago

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ayyy 10 points 2 years ago

And my burrito wasn’t poop until I ate it. What’s your point?

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Nougat -22 points 2 years ago

If you live in the south east and you are repeating conspiracy theories about the hurricane. May you rot in hell.

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AmbiguousProps 3 points 2 years ago

They may actually rot in hell when they refuse to evacuate for the next major hurricane.

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andrewta 3 points 2 years ago

Thoughts and prayers?

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MisterFrog 52 points 2 years ago

This is absolutely baffling being from practically any other English speaking country.

I mean, we have our share of crazies, but they're a tiny proportion.

It's one thing to doubt the well established climate science (very frustrating), but it's another thing to actually believe humans can precisely control the weather.

It's extremely troubling knowing these people exist, and can vote in the most powerful country on earth.

😬

Something, something if you believe in things without evidence (religion) it's not actually that surprising. And we (Australia) are much less religious than you. Though, this is certainly my bias talking.

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oyo 38 points 2 years ago

This is relatively unique to the US because there IS a conspiracy. And it's orchestrated by an unorganized, disconnected cabal of wealthy elite... conservatives, who have for decades advanced a remarkable campaign of anti-intellectualism. The noted scholar Donald J. Trump eloquently described their aims when he spoke about how they "love the uneducated."

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Maggoty 30 points 2 years ago

The Heritage Foundation is anything but unorganized.

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Zink 15 points 2 years ago

Even being in the US, it is just as baffling, yet it is also somehow completely believable because some of us get to see it up close.

It’s insane knee-jerk team sports by people who tend to not get affected by certain social issues.

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rekabis 5 points 2 years ago

we have our share of crazies, but they're a tiny proportion.

Canada shambles into chat, points depressingly at Pierre “PeePee” Polivere and our CPC and PPC parties, then walks back out shaking it’s head

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MisterFrog 1 point 2 years ago

Oh I'm not saying they're not loud, or don't exist (I can only speak directly on my perceptions in Australia though). Additionally, there are also a much larger group of people who I think are greedy, or mislead (in my opinion), but the straight up conspiracy theorist crazies?

I think it's not a stretch to say that's more mainstream in the USA, and I cannot pinpoint an obvious reason at a cursory look. Even if the education system is as bad as claimed, surely, the God fearing wouldn't believe the democrats can control the wrath of said god.

But yeah, things sure are getting wild in the rest of the anglosphere too haha, so touche

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11111one11111 2 points 2 years ago

I mean cloud seeding has been happening for a very long time. I first heard of it as a story about a dude in the '50's pissed the ski season sucked flew up and just dumped dry ice at a lower-ish Altitude somewhere up in the ADKs and sure as shit it works... under very specific conditions and nothing like how the mad skier did it.

It's honestly not that baffling of a jump from cloud seeding to hurricane inseminating when you put it side by side with shit like flat earthers, Christianity, Tom Brady winning 7 rings deflating footballs, aliens building ancient architecture, the music city miracle wasn't a forward lateral, Brett Hull's skate wasnt in the goal crease for the 99 Stanley Cup winning goal, government using vaccines to drug the public rather than just putting drugs in toilet paper for 1/1billionth the cost and 100% distribution efficiency... etc. (Totally fucked myself by throwing a blanket over all of Christianity instead of itemizing shit like eating meat on Friday and humans have been around for only 2000 years lol)

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Rapidcreek 51 points 2 years ago

Death threats to meteorologists - as one does.

Does anyone but me think that's simply insane?

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Curious_Canid 18 points 2 years ago

I thought I was past being shocked by things like this, but it still shocked me,

We are experiencing a bizarre confluence of terrible things. Large numbers of people have checked out from reality, which is bad. Meanwhile, more and more people are willing to resort to extreme violence toward anyone who disagrees with them, which is worse. The combination is incredibly destructive.

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LustyArgonianMana 13 points 2 years ago

The irony

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jettrscga 12 points 2 years ago

Of course it's insane! To threaten these absolute gods who wield the power of nature (and also accept part time work explaining their plots on television.)

Is their plan to shoot someone who can summon hurricanes?

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style99 43 points 2 years ago

I see the Kremlin has been hard at work, spreading chaos just before the election, the same way they do every time.

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floofloof 23 points 2 years ago

The Kremlin may have had to work hard in 2015-2016, but I bet they don't need to work so hard now that MAGA has become self-sustaining. No doubt they're doing their bit, but these days they have more help than ever from inside the USA.

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HawlSera 35 points 2 years ago

We are all going to die

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ashok36 6 points 2 years ago

And thank God for that. The only things that live forever are cancers.

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HawlSera 2 points 2 years ago

I crave the afterlife

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VinnyDaCat 4 points 2 years ago

I kept trying to articulate my reaction but this is about the best it gets. Oh humanity.

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FlyingSquid 35 points 2 years ago

What's going to happen if (when?) a meteorologist actually gets murdered over this?

If I were a meteorologist, I would refuse to go on the air after that. Could you blame any of them for wanting to preserve their own lies? Which will inevitably lead to more people getting killed in weather events.

This is so fucked up.

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FaceDeer 44 points 2 years ago

It's anti-vaxx all over again. I knew these people were insane and stupid, but still, "anti-meteorology" wasn't on my bingo card.

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FlyingSquid 26 points 2 years ago

Except worse, because I know some meteorologists from my time working in local TV. Doctors get into medicine much of the time because they want to help people. In my experience, meteorologists get into it because they think the weather is really fucking cool and they love telling people about it. That's a much smaller incentive to keep doing what you do when your life could be in danger. At that point, and again I'm just speaking for me, meteorology would become a hobby.

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macarthur_park 25 points 2 years ago

This has already played out exactly as you’re predicting: The Weatherman Who Tried to Bring Climate Science to a Red State

In 2021, Chris Gloninger, a television weatherman in Boston with a passion for climate science, was approached with an intriguing prospect. Would he consider a job as chief meteorologist at a television station in Des Moines?

It was a smaller market, and talk of global warming would be challenging in a politically conservative state. But research from 2020 showed that most Iowans were interested in news about climate change, and the state was a leader in wind energy. Mr. Gloninger’s weather forecasts could be a breakthrough.

He quit after death threats.

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FlyingSquid 20 points 2 years ago

And that's just threats. If/when one gets murdered, it won't matter if it's a red state or a blue state. They'll all consider their lives at risk. In an occupation that, unless you're a storm chaser, is not one where the person doing it thinks is going to be an issue.

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someguy3 5 points 2 years ago

Once they became anti-librarian, anything is possible.

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andrewta 7 points 2 years ago

I know you meant lives not lies, but it’s an interesting typo

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FlyingSquid 3 points 2 years ago

Ah fuck, yeah I did.

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InverseParallax 6 points 2 years ago

We should just stop any weather predictions for the South.

Let it all be God's surprise to them, and if a surprise hurricane comes up and knocks them on their ass, well, God works in mysterious ways.

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FlyingSquid 7 points 2 years ago

Or not because there are plenty of good people in the South who are worried about these threats and worried about climate change and try to get politicians who are also worried about climate change into office so they can do something about it. Those people are in the minority, but they still exist.

Also, plenty of children.

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InverseParallax 5 points 2 years ago

As someone who escaped, we should set up funds to let decent people leave for civilized places.

I simply do not consider the south redeemable at this point, we've given them 150 years and it's just been a cancer on the rest of the country.

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irotsoma 30 points 2 years ago

I just saw someone on Facebook saying the aurora being bigger than usual was caused by the weather radars.

I mean ignoring the fact that the aurora has gone through phases for all of recorded history, the amount of energy it would take to generate that is enormous. Do they think we've launched a bunch of nuclear power plants into orbit to power these things? Or maybe the giant nuclear power plant in the sky might be the real reason?

No, they just don't understand the scale of things because they're used to their small town thinking. Just like they don't understand how much a billion dollars is and why one persons shouldn't be allowed to have that much while others have none.

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bleistift2 24 points 2 years ago

Do they think

no.

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echolalia 4 points 2 years ago

We need to stop pretending this is due to a lack of education or critical thinking. Sure, that's true for some, but I'm betting the vast majority of these conspiracy theories are spread by people that know that they are lies and don't care. Evil Russian propaganda bots aren't a great explanation for the totality of the phenomena. People say outrageous things because it gets them clicks on the internet and hurts the "other team".

We saw it recently with the lady lying about hatian immigrants eating cats - link. She didn't care how true it was - only that it hurt the other team. They have it comin', anyway, is their perspective when they're saying these things.

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nova_ad_vitum 1 point 2 years ago

You have to love conspiracy theories that imply that humanity is a Kardashev 2 civilization.

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kn0wmad1c 26 points 2 years ago

Why is Trump allowed to keep spreading this unethical horseshit?

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GhostFaceSkrilla 15 points 2 years ago

The rulers welcome any culture war distractions to take the masses' eyes off the ongoing class war we have been losing for generations.

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DeanFogg 3 points 2 years ago

All of my this. Divide and conquer

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lanolinoil 7 points 2 years ago

The horrible horrible truth is -- because they want it https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/

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11111one11111 1 point 2 years ago

Look up the John Stewart bit from earlier in this election where he shows clips of the same question verbatim being asked to politicians. They first clip of each one was them being asked at a podium or town hall then the very same question is asked to the same politician in a court room and you can guess the results. 100% of the clips showed the complete opposite answers being given by the politician to the public vs in the court room.

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HomerianSymphony 25 points 2 years ago

If Milton had stayed Cat 5, this could have been a self-solving problem.

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ZoopZeZoop 13 points 2 years ago

Except not all the idiots lived in the path of Milton, or even where hurricanes go at all. I can't explain why the presence of hurricanes has become yet another idiotic political issue, but the MAGA morons are latching on to it.

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TacoSocks 4 points 2 years ago

If you know that hurricanes come from warm waters and climate change has been making the water warmer, it makes sense why we've had back to back dangerous hurricanes. Climate change is completely false in MAGA world, but the amount and intensity of hurricanes has been increasing. So in MAGA world they need to answer why and they need to fill the climate change void. Since they are hitting red states in an election year, must be the Democrats controlling them.

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BigMacHole 23 points 2 years ago

I'm a Republican who Does Her Own Research and it's OBVIOUS that these WEATHERMEN are causing our Problems and NOT the Billionaires who gave our Supreme Court Justices MILLIONS in Gifts and Vacations! All this Pollution IS LEGAL!

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Wogi 7 points 2 years ago

Good news! The damage is reversible, we just need to lower carbon emissions to pre industrial levels! We can band together to defeat the evil weather man!

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Confused_Emus 22 points 2 years ago

I don’t want to live on this planet - in this star system anymore.

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gargamel 20 points 2 years ago

When reality is too hard these people will always make up a new one and retreat into conspiracies to help them cope.

What, you want us to help save the planet? But that would mean some sacrifices... No, the hurricanes are caused by the libruls and their evil weather machines, not us. Next. Meteorologists are just the scapegoats in their collective delusions.

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fubarx 16 points 2 years ago

Doesn't the Noah's Ark story involve some sort of bad weather?

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qisope 20 points 2 years ago

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teft 11 points 2 years ago

NOAA's Ark or Noah's HAARP?

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Gork 2 points 2 years ago

Hurricane AARP

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uis 12 points 2 years ago

Is... is american dream is being as dumb as possible?

No healthcare, no welfare, no higher education. But I thought you had at least schools there.

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aesthelete 7 points 2 years ago

But I thought you had at least schools there.

Oh between vouchers and property taxes funding schools...we're uh, we're working on not.

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CynicusRex 11 points 2 years ago

I work at a meteorological institute in Europe and we also get phonecalls from angry imbeciles insulting the meteorologists.

My passion for science and curiosity peaked when I got the job. Now I realise everything is a pipe dream if we do not revolutionise education into something that makes more decent philosophers of us all.

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Asetru 4 points 2 years ago

The system, no matter how good its education, will never be able to turn everybody into "decent philosophers". Some people just aren't smart, no matter how good education might get. Some just are gullible. That doesn't mean that they shouldn't be as well-educated as they can possibly be, but people and their capabilities just are a spectrum and always will be. And even if today's dumbest people will be as smart as today's "decent philosophers" by tomorrow, today's "decent philosophers" will still outsmart them, which is an issue if there are manipulative people with hidden agendas among them. Which they will be.

This isn't an education issue, it's an information and misinformation issue. Giving anybody, including malicious actors, their own, personal channel to spread whatever information they want, regardless of its quality or truth, has turned out to be a terrible idea. The Internet kind of comes with the idea to give everyone access to all of humanity's information without taking into account that there should be a certain responsibility attached to the question of the creation of that information or that there should be a separation of concerns between people who spread information and people who have other interests than just informing people in the best way possible.

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CynicusRex 5 points 2 years ago

Fortunately I completely disagree.

“Imagine going back to the year 1600. Even then, Western Europe was one of the more educated parts of the planet, but back then about 20% of the population could read and write. And I suspect if you went back there and you asked someone who was capable of reading and writing—say a member of the clergy—and you said: “What percentage of the population is even capable of it?” They might have said: “If you have an incredible education system, maybe 50%.” You fast-forward 400 years to today, and we know that that prediction would have been wildly pessimistic; that nearly 100% of the population can be literate. But what similar blinders we have on today? If I were to ask you: “What percentage of the population is capable of understanding quantum physics? Or what percentage of the population is capable of contributing to medical research?” You might say maybe 5 or 10%, or with a really good education system maybe 15 or 20%. But what if the answer is a 100%? What could that mean for the rate at which human society could progress? What would that mean for the human condition? But that is just one aspect of the types of blinders we have on today, that in 400 years will hopefully seem silly.” —Salman Khan, Harvard Class Day 2014

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Asetru 2 points 2 years ago

I love it.

Yeah, that's a much better point of view. I'll just make that my own. Ignore what I said before.

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CynicusRex 2 points 2 years ago

Wow, unexpected response. Have an excellent day fellow “philosopher” ;)

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GiddyGap 8 points 2 years ago

When people lack information or are uneducated about a subject, they make up their own information to compensate. The less education, the more conspiracies.

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varjen 1 point 2 years ago

I dont think it's a good strategy to assume that conspiracy nutters are uneducated. My anecdotal data is that I know at least two college educated people who are big Alex Jones fans and were completely on board the pizzagate and sandy hook train. They're by no means stupid but self-radicalized with YouTube and Fox News. It's easy to get caught up in the propaganda machine.

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GiddyGap 2 points 2 years ago

There are of course smart people who get caught in conspiracies, but, in general, it's easier to work your way out of it if you are educated and know how to do proper source criticism and check your own biases against the facts.

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perestroika 8 points 2 years ago

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krashmo 7 points 2 years ago

Does anyone want to summarize the misinformation they're referring to? I'm slightly curious but not enough to dig into what the crazy half of the country is up to today. I'm sure I'm not the only one feeling a lack of enthusiasm to read their bullshit directly.

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Nutteman 8 points 2 years ago

MTG claimed the hurricanes were controlled weather created by democrats

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lanolinoil 4 points 2 years ago

I love how I read her name Magic the Gathering every time

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BalooWasWahoo 1 point 2 years ago

I've gotten to the point where she is popping into my head more than Magic when all the letters are capitalized. MtG still rings true, but fuck her (somebody else's job, not mine!) for being this stupid and annoying for this long.

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themadcodger 4 points 2 years ago

Yup, they're literally claiming dems control the weather. Apparently there was a massive hurricane on Sept 11, but the dems made it go away, because the deep state had bigger plans that day and a hurricane would interrupt it.

At this point I think you can say that lot no longer live in reality, and most likely need to be committed for psychiatric evaluation.

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Tarquinn2049 1 point 2 years ago

I don't know if I would prefer if they think that is actually the truth, or if they are not crazy and are just lying cuz they think it'll help the election. One of the logical social rules is to not assume malice when incompetence explains it equally as well. But it's hard to say in this case. She has already proven she is both incompetent and malicious in equal parts.

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peopleproblems 1 point 2 years ago

How hard would it be, to take a state, like Mississippi, wall it off completely from the US (except for the coast so they can have marine ports) get all the citizens who don't want to be in a conservative hell hole a several year stipend and move them to somewhere else of their choosing.

Then, we set up this walled off land to be completely controlled by conservatives. They will be able to live in a conservative Utopia. We will move everyone who requests it and their stuff freely to this area.

We let them do whatever they deem necessary. Hell, we can give them a head start, by letting them stay connected to the grid, and help them organize their own government. Then once we do that, we create a massive DMZ around the state.

Then we just let them do what they will inevitably do and become a western Iran.

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lanolinoil 2 points 2 years ago

Like a trail of tears kind of thing? That hasn't historically worked out morally

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peopleproblems 1 point 2 years ago

Uhm. If I remember right, that was a forced relocation.

This would be more of like a national experiment. "Come live in a GOP paradise" "And for anyone stuck in this state, yo we got you covered."

Maybe put like a priority housing into effect so GOP land refugees get first bids on homes, or can't be denied apartments because they'll have the government covering it for x many years.

Then the people who want to live in GOP land can have first class one way tickets, with all moving expenses paid, but then once they get there they gotta negotiate amongst themselves how to get property because that's GOP land rules not modern society rules.

But yeah the first year a lot of people will kick the bucket mostly because of the lack of everything they take for granted

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jaggedrobotpubes -1 points 2 years ago

And then bomb them into oblivion for the crime of poisoning their neighboring states' air.

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peopleproblems 1 point 2 years ago

My hope is that if we can contain it to a geographic area we would have better ways to negotiate with them on curbing emissions.

They'll likely have enough problems with death and disease where bombing them would probably end up helping them

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mriormro -4 points 2 years ago

Your idiocy is astounding.

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peopleproblems 3 points 2 years ago

That's mean I just have a wild imagination

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SeattleRain -3 points 2 years ago

Conspiracies?! Sounds like we're over the target.

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