![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Warning: This is a rant. If you choose to read it, it might offend you. You're warned. If me saying this makes you want to "unfriend" me or whatever, that's your choice. If you want to tell me I'm wrong, fine -- but either bring evidence to support it, or keep your pie-hole shut.
Enough is enough, people. I'm tired of seeing people I would otherwise consider intelligent acting like brainless puppets. MOST of you reading this don't fit that category. For the rest? Well, if the tinfoil hat fits...
Before you re-post yet another inflammatory claim about what the government is up to, or what the Bible says, or the latest tactic by criminal gangs, or whatever else, could you PLEASE just take a moment and use that lump on the top of your neck to THINK about it? Even better, could you actually look and see if there is any SHRED of evidence to support it?
This is especially easy in the cases of "the Bible says" or "Legislative Bill #1234 says," where you can actually look for yourself and SEE if the claim has any truth. If you're too lazy to actually read the source material yourself, just think for a minute about words that would have to be present for the claim to be true and do a text search for them. For such minimal effort, you can avoid looking like a gullible moron! Wouldn't that be nice?
There's no monopoly of intelligence or accuracy on any side of the political fence. I don't care if you're conservative, liberal, independent, unaffiliated, or whatever. Just because Your Side said it doesn't mean it's right, and just because The Other Side said it doesn't mean it's wrong.
Here's a perfect example: When I see something that seems questionable, I'm likely to go to factcheck.org, snopes.com, or other similar places whose entire purpose is to conduct research. Particularly with regards to Snopes, I've had numerous people tell me that they are nothing but a liberal mouthpiece, that they lie about all sorts of things to support the liberal agenda... but when I ask them to show me an example, they can't provide a single one. Not. One.
Want me to believe you? Show me something that supports your claim. If you can't find any evidence to support your own claim, maybe you need to re-think it. In the meantime, STFU.
I've had enough of hearing Chicken Little scream that the sky is falling. I'm willing to discuss just about anything with just about anybody, provided they're willing to show some sort of justification for dubious-sounding claims. And no, "Because I said so" is not justification unless you are a recognized expert in a relevant field. "Because I heard that somebody else said so" is even worse -- now you're not even taking responsibility for it yourself, you're just being a mindless parrot.
If you think there are problems (present or incipient), fine -- be an adult and do what you can to fix them, or to prepare for them. But please don't sit there and cry and moan about them, especially when most of them are nothing but shadow-puppets.
If nothing else, think about the repercussions of regurgitating such garbage. If you make a big fuss over every unconfirmed, unsupported, and unbelievable rumor that comes along, what's going to happen when you finally find information about problems or threats that really exist?
Ever hear of the boy who cried wolf?
Some of you reading this are probably nodding your heads, and others are probably fuming. Both are fine, and I'll discuss it with any of you... but if you are one of those this rant is about, don't be surprised if I tell you to STFU.
Enough is enough, people. I'm tired of seeing people I would otherwise consider intelligent acting like brainless puppets. MOST of you reading this don't fit that category. For the rest? Well, if the tinfoil hat fits...
Before you re-post yet another inflammatory claim about what the government is up to, or what the Bible says, or the latest tactic by criminal gangs, or whatever else, could you PLEASE just take a moment and use that lump on the top of your neck to THINK about it? Even better, could you actually look and see if there is any SHRED of evidence to support it?
This is especially easy in the cases of "the Bible says" or "Legislative Bill #1234 says," where you can actually look for yourself and SEE if the claim has any truth. If you're too lazy to actually read the source material yourself, just think for a minute about words that would have to be present for the claim to be true and do a text search for them. For such minimal effort, you can avoid looking like a gullible moron! Wouldn't that be nice?
There's no monopoly of intelligence or accuracy on any side of the political fence. I don't care if you're conservative, liberal, independent, unaffiliated, or whatever. Just because Your Side said it doesn't mean it's right, and just because The Other Side said it doesn't mean it's wrong.
Here's a perfect example: When I see something that seems questionable, I'm likely to go to factcheck.org, snopes.com, or other similar places whose entire purpose is to conduct research. Particularly with regards to Snopes, I've had numerous people tell me that they are nothing but a liberal mouthpiece, that they lie about all sorts of things to support the liberal agenda... but when I ask them to show me an example, they can't provide a single one. Not. One.
Want me to believe you? Show me something that supports your claim. If you can't find any evidence to support your own claim, maybe you need to re-think it. In the meantime, STFU.
I've had enough of hearing Chicken Little scream that the sky is falling. I'm willing to discuss just about anything with just about anybody, provided they're willing to show some sort of justification for dubious-sounding claims. And no, "Because I said so" is not justification unless you are a recognized expert in a relevant field. "Because I heard that somebody else said so" is even worse -- now you're not even taking responsibility for it yourself, you're just being a mindless parrot.
If you think there are problems (present or incipient), fine -- be an adult and do what you can to fix them, or to prepare for them. But please don't sit there and cry and moan about them, especially when most of them are nothing but shadow-puppets.
If nothing else, think about the repercussions of regurgitating such garbage. If you make a big fuss over every unconfirmed, unsupported, and unbelievable rumor that comes along, what's going to happen when you finally find information about problems or threats that really exist?
Ever hear of the boy who cried wolf?
Some of you reading this are probably nodding your heads, and others are probably fuming. Both are fine, and I'll discuss it with any of you... but if you are one of those this rant is about, don't be surprised if I tell you to STFU.
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
(and perfect icon is perfect *g*)
no subject
no subject
no subject