Yes, next question? “Is Facebook Bad for Society?”

Yes, next question? “Is Facebook Bad for Society?”

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Starts with the right idea but then focuses on extremist posts on FB rather than that FB is the largest frictionless propaganda platform in world history. Hint: its not just extremists or just right wing propagandists. The sole purpose of the platform is propaganda. New comments from a former Facebook employee has once again raised questions about its approach, and the consequences of such on society. Source: Is Facebook Bad for Society? New Insights on the Company’s Approach Raise Important…

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Propaganda: “Person X” who opposes mask mandates tests positive for COVID-19 

Propaganda: “Person X” who opposes mask mandates tests positive for COVID-19 

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The media has undertaken a national propaganda campaign on face masks: They only report when a person opposed to face masks tests positive. They NEVER report that most people testing positive were probably wearing face masks much of the time. This intentionally biases your perspective on the effectiveness of face masks.

The media may do this because they know that keeping readers and viewers emotionally inflamed is good for click bait and ad revenue.

Social media has devolved into shouting

Social media has devolved into shouting

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Once upon a time, media was about sharing items.

At some point, it was possible to have discussions about points of disagreement. To engage in two-way interaction – to exchange information and learning.

Now, social media seems mostly about strongly worded assertions followed by shouting. Dissent is forbidden – and will get you canceled.

If you do not 100% agree with my assertions then you are a Nazi and must be canceled!

That in a nutshell, is today’s social media.

We are being horribly manipulated by the media

We are being horribly manipulated by the media

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The media is manipulating your thinking on covid-19 and relative risks by headlining daily body counts and new cases counts. In my state, the odds of being hurt in a car crash – today – are very similar to the odds of being diagnosed with Covid-19. The odds of being hospitalized due to a car crash are many times greater than being hospitalized for Covid-19. But which one do you fear and have daily panic attacks over? Probably not the car crashes. We are being manipulated by media and public health officials who are frequently acting like quacks.

What ever happened to AOC?

What ever happened to AOC?

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What ever happened to AOC? From her election in 2018 throughout 2019, she received massive media attention – even across the country here in the Pacific Northwest. But now in 2020, she has largely vanished from the area news cycle? Why is that? My guess is she was used as a propaganda tool, especially to engage with younger voters. Like all politicians she said some silly (dumb) things, especially on Twitter, and by 2020, an election year, perhaps she was viewed as more of a liability than asset and no longer the optimal propaganda messenger. Do you have an alternative explanation as to why she has mostly disappeared?

Public health messaging was a fiasco: “Coronavirus: Six months after sheltering, why things fell apart”

Public health messaging was a fiasco: “Coronavirus: Six months after sheltering, why things fell apart”

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Public health messaging in the pandemic has been a fiasco of inconsistent, contradictory and incoherent messaging.

A 2006 paper by four epidemiologists explained that most public health mitigation steps do not actually work. First, the measures that might work – like lockdowns – are understood to be infeasible over wide regions or countries and not sustainable. Many other steps that seem intuitive do not work well or do not work at all, or have no evidence to support that they work.

Combine ineffective public health mitigations with lousy public communications and you end up with a fiasco.

Wild fires: Is everything a single variable problem?

Wild fires: Is everything a single variable problem?

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Western state Governors are increasingly blaming climate change for western wild fires, as if the wild fires are a single variable. If only we could control the climate, we would no longer have wild land fires. Realistically, there is no magic control knob on climate that we can control and which will reduce fire danger for decades to come.

There are concrete steps that can be taken immediately to reduce the threats of future wild fires – but politicians would rather blame climate change – which they do not control – because to acknowledge there are factors which they can control is to acknowledge that their leadership has failed.

A common mistake people make is to focus on a single variable in a multiple variable problem. In this case, the focus is on one variable that cannot be controlled in the near term, while ignoring other variables that can be controlled.