RE: Spreading "misinformation" and "conspiracy theories"... This is a phrase I am hearing/reading more often these days.

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I never considered the word programming re:TV in that way. I was a program manager when I worked for the public access TV station. I did wonder why it was called that, considering I had come from the IT world. Very interesting, and very apt.

"Some people say..." is an example of weasel words (although there is an example of logical fallacy in one of the examples given ;>). The authors of that article argue that weasel words are an indication of dishonesty, although that seems to be true in the cases where the people using it that way are in the communications field (media, politics, education, and academia), and should know better, I would argue in turn that logical fallacy often comes from bias.

And I would also claim that bias is very related to trust. Why do we trust thee "communication" people to provide us with intelligence, keeping in mind that intelligence is information that has been collected and analyzed to aid in decision making?

Trust has many parents, including bias:

  • Thinking is hard, and confusing when considering different inputs in intelligence and information; Haselton (Hazelton?) argues that heuristics (thinking shortcuts) evolved to ease the burden to think. Biases are heuristics gone bad.
  • So humans trust intelligence sources and leaders to make decisions for them.
  • Conservatives (simplifying the political divide) trust intelligence sources and leaders that have failed them before. Part of this results from expecting honest behavior from both institution and individual; Johnson (in "Enemies of Society", which explains how Western societies succeed due to use of reason, individual liberty, and free markets) points out that trust is necessary in society for these concepts to work. A little more bluntly, a commenter on this post, GRIFT LEFT AND RIGHT, states:

Here's another reason the Right grift works
People on the Right mostly default to trusting people. We're the guys who return shopping carts, help people carry things, watch each other's stuff. We donate to charity way out of proportion to our wealth.
We're suckers, basically.

  • Prepare yourself for a biased claim from me (shocked faces all around, right ;>). The so-called liberals (again, simplifying the political divide) trust the intelligence sources and leaders because the "liberal" belief system requires a constant flow of intelligence and decision making that reaffirms the "liberal" is a moral person, and that the costs of the "liberal's" goals and duties in that belief system can be paid for by other people
  • Most people on all sides are infected by normalcy bias, or the concept that if we ignore potential consequences, then nothing bad can happen. As an example, the "conservative" doesn't want to admit that harsh measures are required NOW if the Republic is to be restored. You can also see this in our security services, both LE and natsec, that have looked past the subversion of our society and the very open attack on them, because they don't want to risk that paycheck by adhering to their oath. my own normalcy bias has been apparent in my long defense of these...men...over the course of the last few as more and more oath-breaking has been made clear

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I truly hope that more of your seeds sprout, to lighten the load of our required harsh measures.



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I gave this the biggest up vote I could. I didn't have anything meaningful to add to what you said so I just gave you a 100% up vote. :)

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Let it brew, nd you'll probably find something LOL

Hoping I bolstered your point somewhat, ty

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