How Technology Destroyed The Truth | Answers With Joe

in technology •  6 years ago 

The promise of the internet was that if we connect the world and give everyone a voice, we could move forward as one. It didn't turn out that way.

The way we consume information has changed drastically over the years.

For the majority of modern history, newspapers were the arbiter of truth, and people read the newspaper once a day and then talked about the issues with friends, family, and coworkers.

When radio came around, the news was delivered 2-3 times a day, by distinguished and trusted broadcasters like Edward R. Murrow that delivered the news right down the middle.

Broadcast TV increased the amount of news to 3-4 times a day, but still news was just something people ingested in between other forms of entertainment. And different sides of the news were presented evenly thanks to the Fairness Doctrine.

But with cable TV and the first cable news network, CNN, all that changed. Then news became the entertainment and more cable news outlets like Fox News, MSNBC, Headline News, and CNBC split into different ideological camps.

But with the rise of social media, the news became an all-day every day feast, and worst of all, it removed the gatekeepers. Meaning anybody with any viewpoint could get their message heard.

This was supposed to be a good thing. But it has proven to divide us even further and be exploited by troll farms and moneyed interests.

Even more upsetting is this is happening at a time when we need together on the same page to combat various existential threats.

The post-truth era could be one of the contributors to the downfall of humanity if we're not careful.

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@answerswithjoe You have a voice because this new technology makes it super cheap and easy to share it with everyone. You are making a living with it because I (we) enjoy watching you.

I agree with your post but not your tittle. Internet is like money, both those things didnt destroy anything. Poeple used those things for bad. Your Tittle indicates that it is the gun that did the killing...

Agreed, it's just a tool that can be used for good or evil just like a gun.

so you think the taping of alex jones at the bohemian grove was staged?

@felix.herrmann Staged absolutely. Faked, I don't think so but maybe. Digitally altered to show something other than what was recorded, no. That type of technology didn't exist yet.

your answer is a bit confusing. Did Alex Jones staged a 2nd event of this sort? A daylight he drives through the property.

  ·  6 years ago (edited)

To be less vague, I don't know for sure if it was staged or "real". If this video IS the one I saw back around 2000, I saw it not long after it was made and I thought it to be credible at that time, as well as Alex Jones. So I don't believe the video was staged by or for him. In the past 10 years however Alex seems to have sold out and I find him on the extreme side, approaching "out there". Him "staging" something wouldn't surprise me at this point. I did not see a 2nd event, sorry.

I have the bohemian grove DVD somewhere. @noisy this would be an example of how the Blockchain could be used as proof of at least unalterd content in the future. Like an original DVD. It could be used to prove a recorded video, image, audio, document etc. hasn't been modified from its original form.

That is at least half the battle.

I would have much more faith in the Bible if I could prove who, when and how it was or was not altered from its original content.

@demotruk I've been using the Internet since the late 80s. I've been exposed to a lot of crap but I also feel that I have been much more informed than the rest of the MSM followers and have seen things coming years in advance. For example the MSM said no one could have seen the 2008 crash and housing problems coming. That was B.S.. If you did even a little of alternate looking you could see it coming for several years in advance. As well as get the understanding of who, what, when, why and how.

The people who only read the headlines are the ones who are uninformed idiot sheep.

Edit: @felix.herrmann By "Staged absolutely", I mean it "was a production a.k.a ceremony with scheduled events to happen in a set order so I'm saying by that definition it was staged.

In the past 10 years however Alex seems to have sold out and I find him on the extreme side, approaching "out there". share your opinion about that.

but still, his work found its way to House of Cards ( in case you missed). Right after this bohemian grove scene, kevin spacey got fired...

Really great episode. The most terrifying part for me is... that there is really no solution on horizon.

And... if AI will start generate even more fake news... humans will never be able to do fact checking to not being left behind.

@noisy The Blockchain may be the answer. From this day forward you will always be able to prove that I said "THIS" as well as exactly what time it was said. So at least some history won't be able to be rewritten by the victors. That, of course does not prove that "THIS" was true.

Interesting post, but was there ever the truth era to call what we've got now the post-truth era?

Gatekeepers = censors and they used (? sometimes still do!) throw people into the fire, literally.

Maybe information war is inevitable, due to:

  • stupidity
  • benefits

of the news makers.

That's the great topic. We should all be worried about technology that allows you to create fake recordings, both audio and video, of people saying something that they did not said. I feel like this is one of those things that are both already real danger and people seems to not be aware of it.

  ·  6 years ago (edited)

It's interesting to me that this argument about the post-truth era is so often made, without using facts or figures to back it up. Every example you have presented here is anecdotal. Despite this narrative of increasing disinformation and fake news (which there is at least some truth to), how do you explain the fact that whenever it's tested, people who get their news primarily online are consistently better informed than TV or newspaper readers? It's a large section of society so selection bias isn't really enough to account for the difference.

It's a complete myth that people were better informed when there was just three news networks to choose from.

I don't agree with the narrative presented in this video but I've upvoted because I often watch your videos on YouTube.

Social media echo chambers are also highly exaggerated.

Edit: There are studies which show that people who primarily use Facebook as their news source are poorly informed. However, the same studies have found that to be a small demographic. In general younger people who spend more time online and get more news online, are getting their news from more diverse sources than older people, and are better informed on current affairs.