Ever More Hideous

The thoughts of a hermaphrodite werebeing

1. sam 4.15.08 / 1am

   everything is polarized. we take positions on things that other people have already laid out for us. we decide to believe who we think has decided the best.
2. probabilityzero 6.14.08 / 8pm

   Finding sources often isn’t enough, considering ridiculous untruths are often propagated so far that they’re printed in seemingly “reputable” sources. It’s just becoming harder and harder to tell fact from fiction.

   People will always gravitate towards information that agrees with their biases. Conspiracy theorists will cling to obscure and unproven assertions that have mounds of horribly irrational and unrealistic “evidence” detailed on pro-conspiracy sites. Sure, ideally, if they were to “question everything” they would also question their chosen conspiracy as well, and try to seek out the best objective evidence, but that’s rarely how it works. Thus, you have otherwise smart and skeptical people blabbering about remote controlled airplanes hitting buildings or faked moon landings.

   Skepticism isn’t easy. It isn’t just a matter of finding a source or two — it’s a philosophy for thinking about the wold, where everything has to be considered as objectively as possible, where every belief is judged with a skeptical eye. And at the end of it all, we still have to rely on the research and opinions of others at some point. It’s an up-hill battle, but certainly a worthwhile one.

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