Newspaper, TV, do you subject yourself to them?

[GOD]

Klaatu i think you have missed the bus . Maybe you should think about where you have been all your life ? It sounds to me like you think you are free ???

 

[BrainEater]

How exactly, in practice, does the media turn people into zombies? How does it negatively influence the thought processes of conscious people?

It almost seems as if you were scared, as if watching the news would suddenly sweep away all that knowledge and critical thinking you have. Why?

I don't know how exactly they do it, but i am also scared, and also because of what you stated. Because i am scared that suddenly i believe the bullshit they say.... because it's sometimes not far away from brainwashing, the way they "deliver" the news to you....

It depends what kind of person you are, but if you have believed and "felt with" other events, then it can get more likely that you just cannot do anything against yourself watching the news and not thinking by yourself at the same time....

It's like they invent techniques to catch attention or awareness of TV-watchers by delivering the news the way they do it...

I am only talking about my experiences with news channels or programs...

What scares me is that if i imagine in some case i'd know they were really lying in the news, but nobody would believe me when i said they were lying.... then.... what would i do????

i don't know.... but the fact that the media turns populations into slaves, simply because they believe what they're sayin and stop usiing their own brain... that is shocking for me...

also i don't say they are really LYING all the time... it's like they twist the true informations they have and what comes out is many times plain bullshit....


peace :weedman:

 

[st.bot.32]

By merely selecting which facts you include in the story you can claim to be presenting "truth" but present a biased opinion. By stringing together loosely connected facts into a narrative structure you can make an implication without even directly speaking it. Political arguments often work this way. Choose and pick the facts of the story that fit your argument, ignore the ones that don't.

I try to expose myself to a lot of news, and try to get as many viewpoints as I can from different websites. Not even that I'm reading "truth" but more just socially aware of what is affecting society at this time. A lot of news websites now have comments sections which are great for finding out what people have to say on the issues as well.

There was something in Klaatu's post that really jumped out at me though. I have known many people who are very critical of the media in general. But when it comes to an anonymous voice espousing a conspiracy theory over the internet some people's critical thinking suddenly goes out the window. (I can't claim innocence here either...) It becomes a sort of belief system that they won't even challenge.

Conspiracy theories frequently use the same kind of techniques as mainstream media. I saw a popular documentary recently where right at the beginning a faceless voice started giving a lengthy lecture about "truth" accompanied by bad 80's acid visuals. As soon as he started throwing the "T" word around, the documentary lost all credibility with me. Then he started hammering the viewer with random images of mass violence. I was on acid at the time too

 

[neil2445]

Its been picked apart by Noam Chomsky and John Pilger, amongst others. I've found that the best way to get information is to go there and ask those directly involved.

 

[Forkbender]

Information is not truth; it misses both the continuity and multifacetedness (is that a word?).

 

[GOD]

If not you just invented one .

Both people are very good sources of information .

 

[neil2445]

Please explain your point, Forkbender. I believe that a journalist interviewing a shaking rape victim and eliciting the story of the attack is usually illuminating the truth.
I've found in my own travels that ordinary people with no axe to grind, such as foot-soldiers and civillians caught up in conflict and the like, are the best sources of finding out the truth. They aren't trained in media damage limitation for example (spin), and are immediate, credible witnesses. I've also found that when you're in a marketplace and the walls are peppered with shrapnel holes, there are usually people around who will tell you what's happened, and that what has happened is pretty damn awful. At those times I never felt the urge to lecture them on truth and information. I just took the photographs and statements, and carried on, more aware about the nature of life than I was before.

 

[Forkbender]

I ment it somewhat like this. Any statement is limited. It doesn't disclose the fundamental reasons behind actions or words. The message is the medium of truth, but it is limited by itself. Call it McLuhanian, but that's how I've come to see it. Furthermore, information can be interpreted in different ways by different persons serving different purposes. People need one-sided information before they can understand two-sided information, but then there are still other sides that are neglected because the 'debate' is centered around two views out of the infinite. The media are building issues around these debates and therefore miss the multifacetedness of truth. It also misses its continuity, because the truth doesn't stand still and the information is necessarily fixed. I do think one can make a proper judgment about someone being truthful, but I don't think one can properly judge the effects of selecting one piece of information over the other. That is exactly manufacturing consent.

 

[GOD]

Fork , of cource you are right in what you say.....BUT so is Neil2445 in his way . As you say no truth is absolute , we all know that . So theres not much point in debating it . "The truth" for someone is like a kick in the balls , we might be able to speculate about how much it hurt if it realy conected , but thats a matter of the difference between very much and extreme . The people that Neil2445 mentioned are considered by their colleges and a lot of the public to be good sources of information .

Love GOD

 

[Klaatu]

Klaatu i think you have missed the bus . Maybe you should think about where you have been all your life ? It sounds to me like you think you are free ???

The dualism, the dualism. It seems to me that you are trying to say something like: "Either you'll watch TV without any critical thinkg and be a slave or don't watch TV and be FREE."

If the faceless, nameless, gargantuan machinery of propaganda really is that strong, it wouldn't take much from that machinery to control all the books you read, right? All the great speakers, all the music, all the forums...hell, all the psychedelic trips you've ever had?

The narrowmindedness is just mind-boggling. I'll ask this again, differently: what is the difference between a politician who thinks that "drugs are bad, period", and a person on a psychonaut forum who thinks "media is bad, period"?

I know that the stereotype of an uncritical, mediocre "believe-all-they-say-person" exists, but so does the stereotype of a black person who eats fried chicken and watermelon, smokes weed and drinks malt liquor. Thinking that it's the media that makes a person lazy, uncreative, apathetic and uncritical just seems childish. It's liking thinking that the fried chicken and watermelon make the person an outgoing party animal. Or that the fact that she is black makes her like malt liquor.

C'mon GOD, we are capable of civilized discussion.

 

[Forkbender]

@GOD: I didn't disagree with neil2445. I just added my point of view to the equation.

 

[Klaatu]

How exactly, in practice, does the media turn people into zombies? How does it negatively influence the thought processes of conscious people?

It almost seems as if you were scared, as if watching the news would suddenly sweep away all that knowledge and critical thinking you have. Why?

I don't know how exactly they do it, but i am also scared, and also because of what you stated. Because i am scared that suddenly i believe the bullshit they say.... because it's sometimes not far away from brainwashing, the way they "deliver" the news to you....

As Forkbender said: If you know someone is trying to manipulate you, the manipulation won't work.

This reminds me of the South Park episode "Bloody Mary" (read the plot summary):

When Randy is told that his "alcoholism" is a disease that he just can't help in any way, we end up in a situation where the "alcoholic" just keeps on drinking because "oh I just can't help it, I'm sick!"

Replace the alcohol with the media and "being sick without being able to help it" with "being stupid and uncritical without being able to help it". This raises the question: who has gotten you into believing that you are stupid and uncritical without being able to help it?

I think we should also remember that "if Randy completely avoids drinking, drinking is still controlling his life, and that true discipline is figuring out how to live in moderation". Be critical, towards the media and towards all those conspiracy theories. I find no point in dualism and overly simplified ideas of how we are "being turned into slaves". Why all the pessimism?

 

[BrainEater]

yeah...you're probably right!!

peace :weedman:

 

[GOD]

"I didn't disagree with neil2445."

Oh ! Sorry , i had my defenses up and wasnt seeing straight .

Klaatu ,

All i`m saying is you might think you can think your way around all the media / school / social conditioning we are subjected to from birth to death but you cant . You might be able to do a very good job of defending your mind but even then you live in a world full of people who mostly cant . They also create the mass reality that we all live in .

The world we live in has been controlled and we have been "cultivated" by the people in controll for thousands of years . A perfect example is the dark ages where the catholic church dictated reality and the people were totaly manipulated .

 

[Forkbender]

^ I guess it all started with the division of labour into farmers, rulers and priests

 

[GOD]

The romans used divide and rule , bread and games to controll their people . That developed into animal farm and 1984 .


In asia they use budism to keep the people down and the rich richer .

 

[Bastiaan]

what GOD wrote

+100000000

I think one of the biggest reasons as to 'how they do it' is this:
People are very emotional and loving and sensitive creatures, we get very sad knowing that things aren't allright
We can't handle it emotionally
The politically controlled media totally know this and they totally exploit this by showing us a reality in wich everything seems to be allright and certain, nothing needs changed and we all know everything is allright
And who thinks differently is delusional, ill or depressed.. and will be left out
Do we want to be delusional? Do we want to be ill? Depressed? Left out?
Do we want to accept and believe the above stated? Does it make us happier?
As long as there will be enough people conspiring to influence the others reality to benefit from this.. the world will always remain a stage of chaos and mass confusion as it is now
You may not percieve it to be so, reality is what you make of it or what you allow for it to be made of it
So why bother if things are different and you are being exploited and lied to and living a lie? All you have to do is don't believe it and it won't bother you either! Make your reality a happy one! Not a real one..
(for the record: being sarcastic :? )
Conclusion:in todays 'modern society' by subjecting yourself to the brainwashing you'll most likely become happy and by not doing so you can become allienated and depressed quite easily
What's the difference between real happiness and delusioned happiness? There isn't any
Just the intuitive feeling that very once in a while comes dawning saying things don't add up.. but that's so easy to ignore when it will totally destroy the happy reality you live in
It's not even real, you just imagined feeling it you are just lying to yourself or maybe you should lay off the coffee a little or maybe you'll accept any excuse
It's not weak or strange or dumb at all, I do it myself to a certain extent
But I know it's true
I am ignoring my intuition to a certain extent to keep me happy, to not alienate myself from my loved ones and friends and to be safe as well actually
I'm almost ashamed of writing this because I don't really feel that comfortable meeting the paranoid conspiracy by evil exploiters psychonaut geek delusioned thinker standards
I'm not going untouched as you can see by the above..
Were all part of their system but it's being ran by a core
And that's how they do it it's a perfect system
they think they're not gonna see it coming
and that is real perfection 8)

 

[Forkbender]

Imagine what happens when people start finding out that there is nothing to repress. We'll see what happens when power is used to achieve something that cannot be achieved, how it loses it's balance because there is no counterweight and falls.

 

[Twilight]

In asia they use budism to keep the people down and the rich richer .

I thought that was Confucianism?
Buddhism has never been about ruling other people.

But maybe the religion has been used, not sure. Just my two cents.
Oh and it's off-topic as well, bad me!

 

[GOD]

Of topic dont exist. The topic is what we talk about . It goes like it flows .

A prince (= rich bastard) went out one day and went on the road . He didnt work he begged from poor people . He told them your only hope , your gods dont exist . If you are poor and / or suffering its because you were bad in your last life . (= 99.999% of people are / were bad in every life) Its your karma and you cant do anything about it exept be a good , non violent (= dont defend yourself) happy little slave . The rich are rich because they were good in their last lives , acept that to .(= If you lick arse in this life , acept that the criminaly rich can exploit you and kill the planet with their greed you will be born rich in your next life) . Then when he got pissed off with poncing off poor people he went back to prince land .

If the alibi lama was a good budist monk he would get up at 4 in the morning and go begging . He doesnt , he lets himself get worshiped by millions like a god and flys round the world like a member of the jet set . If budist monks were good they wouldnt go begging from poor people they would get a job , earn money and give it to poor people .

Same with hindu fatalism and chinese philosophy .