Flat Earth

exchemist said:
Worse, their algorithms are a built-in mechanism for reinforcing and amplifying nutcase material to susceptible people. So it's no wonder the numbers of people believing nonsense increases. I feel sure the Aussies are on the right track here and more countries should follow suit. Perhaps that will, finally, persuade the tech bros to take some f***ing ownership of what their products are doing to society.
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It is supremely ironic how we used to think access to too little information was a primary cause for ignorance. It turns out access to too much information can result in the same ignorance because there's so much misinformation to choose from.
 
billvon said:
Think about how easy space exploration would get. Just push the rocket off the edge and go from there.
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But only if you want to explore downward. To explore upward, they'd still need to fight their way up the gravity well, past those elephants and the turtle.
 
DaveC426913 said:
It is supremely ironic how we used to think access to too little information was a primary cause for ignorance. It turns out access to too much information can result in the same ignorance because there's so much misinformation to choose from.
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I think that’s because we implicitly assumed “information” was curated and edited for some degree of quality.
 
DaveC426913 said:
It is supremely ironic how we used to think access to too little information was a primary cause for ignorance. It turns out access to too much information can result in the same ignorance because there's so much misinformation to choose from.
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Misinformation, bullshit, and just plain ordinary lies!
 
DaveC426913 said:
That is what we call knowledge and wisdom.

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I mean, yeah, the punchline sort of steals the sageness of the message. The image works fine with just the first five panels.

The internet is full of information. But that is not the same as knowledge.

Our local puppet here beil/nebel/Spellbound has provided lots of information about the rotational and revolutionary properties* of Solar System bodies. He lacks knowledge that ties these properties to cause/effect.

* and I'm being generous in granting that it's accurate information
 
DaveC426913 said:
I mean, yeah, the punchline sort of steals the sageness of the message. The image works fine with just the first five panels.

The internet is full of information. But that is not the same as knowledge.

Our local puppet here beil/nebel/Spellbound has provided lots of information about the rotational and revolutionary properties* of Solar System bodies. He lacks knowledge that ties these properties to cause/effect.

* and I'm being generous in granting that it's accurate information
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If it's a sock puppet of Spellbound why hasn't he been thrown out again?
 
Pinball1970 said:
No idea, I didn't know Spellbound, a bit before my time I think.
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As he's banned you can't search on Spellbound, but if you do a search on CTMU or Langan you will find his obsessional postings in the past.

Christopher Langan is a sort of college drop-out horse dealer, who reckons he is a genius philosopher and developed this thingie called the Cognitive Theoretic Model of the Universe (CTMU), which he self-published in 2002.

He seems to be a clever chap from a poor and unintellectual background, who never had enough formal education to articulate his ideas and deploy his intellectual abilities through conventional channels. Perhaps in consequence (resentment?), he goes in for conspiracies theories, eugenics (cf. H G Wells) and racial theories. He has consequently become a (somewhat obscure) darling of the far right.

Spellbound is somebody called Nick Hosein, who seems to be bonkers and obsessive about this CTMU stuff. He too thinks he is a great genius. But he's just mad.
 
exchemist said:
Christopher Langan is a sort of college drop-out horse dealer
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Ok, this guy I know. Professor Dave (I am not his PR man honestly) made an analysis video of him. That's what Professor Dave does, teaching videos and debunking conspiracy nuts, frauds and grifters.
I will find a link, you may have a peek. I know it's not your thing but Dave's take downs are pithy, funny and educational, it is his thing and he is good at it.
 
Pinball1970 said:
Ok, this guy I know. Professor Dave (I am not his PR man honestly) made an analysis video of him. That's what Professor Dave does, teaching videos and debunking conspiracy nuts, frauds and grifters.
I will find a link, you may have a peek. I know it's not your thing but Dave's take downs are pithy, funny and educational, it is his thing and he is good at it.
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Thanks. If it’s brief I may take a look. I’ve never bothered to read about the CTMU as I find most of these ontological speculations a bit pointless.

Though I did read Rovelli’s book on the relational interpretation of QM, which inevitably gets into that a bit.
 
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