A quick meditation on the dangers of misused, out of context quotes. the Devil’s favourite quote.
The Devil’s Favourite Quote
Category: Misinformation
A Meditation on Words: Natural Isn’t Always Good
I want to bet all my money that you've encountered the argument of chemical versus natural before. Especially in the alternative medicine industry, where appeals to the naturalistic or genetic fallacy are commonplace. And anyone with a basic understanding of nature knows that "natural" isn't always good, and "chemical" isn't the bad word they'll have [...]
Defending Truth: Justin Trudeau Edition
In mid-December of 2021, a video about Justin Trudeau, the Prime Minister of Canada, did its rounds on the conspiracy Internet, and hundreds of thousands of tinfoil hat-wearing folks shared it without requiring additional information. The video, a deceptively edited twenty-five-second snippet of a more extended interview, showed Justin Trudeau allegedly saying that his government was willing [...]
A Quick Meditation about Google’s Algorithm and Research
Before you come at me with a misguided defence of your intellectual supremacy, I want to remind you that this is a quick meditation about Google's algorithm and research. As you might notice, there are humans out there who claim to do their "own" research, and as a result, achieve better conclusions than the experts [...]
On Generational Conflict and Happiness
On my daily worries about social issues, I happened upon the idea of generational conflict and happiness and how it affects the acceptance of misinformation, and therefore, social well-being. And while the current generation lacks accountability for their shortcomings, much of their failure is on their parents. What would Hitchens say about all the nonsense [...]
Perception of Privacy, From the Diary of Peyton Dracco.
On public perception of privacy Saturday, December 23 of 2017, 10 minutes after midnight People love to decry big brother as the enemy of privacy, the end of freedom. Too often those same people are willing to share intimate information on any social media platform to which they have access. They are watching Are "they" [...]
Hope for Intellectualism: Jordan Peterson Edition
Refreshingly, I'm able to bring you some hope for Intellectualism today and from someone with whom I disagree on several points. Intellectual honesty As I wrote yesterday on my rant about an intellectual I "respect" (and who proceeded to block me on Twitter after I requested verification of claims made against the Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau), [...]
The Death of Intellectualism: Gad Saad Edition
Let me, first of all, explain what I mean by the death of intellectualism. I promise I'm not being deliberately provocative as I tend to be most of the time. Okay, I'm provocative all the time but this is an exception. Intellectualism is, by definition, the exercise of the intellect at the expense of emotions. In [...]
Loaded Words and Misinformation
Words matter and there is a direct link between loaded words and misinformation. Language is the only tool humans have to exchange ideas and feelings. Language is the only way humans can explore each other's minds. And words are the weapon of choice for the con artist and the more interesting fraudster. I won't spend [...]
Why Call Them Conspiracy Theorists
The term Theorist, by definition, points to someone who is concerned with the theoretical aspects of a subject. Theoretical physicists, for example, are people who study the fundamental laws of physics through abstract and relevant disciplines like mathematics. But the people most call conspiracy theorists fail to apply proper logic to their thinking. Most of [...]