This sort of thing frustrates me
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honey the codewitch wrote:
it is feasible an extraterrestrial spaceship could be in our galactic neighborhood, exploring the region by the means of "dandelion seeds"
It is feasible that a dragon in another dimension is using small pixies to explore our solar system. I actually give that a higher probability that the prior one because the prior one is limited by the physics (and economics) of this universe while mine is not. But I certainly will not be spending time looking or even thinking about either.
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Could an alien mothership be hovering around the solar system, sending out tiny probes to explore planets? According to a Harvard scientist and a Pentagon official, it’s possible.
In a draft paper, the pair said it is feasible an extraterrestrial spaceship could be in our galactic neighborhood, exploring the region by the means of “dandelion seeds” — small spacecraft that can gather and send back information, similar to the way humans send out spacecraft to explore planets.
Avi Loeb, an astronomer at Harvard University, and Sean M. Kirkpatrick, director of the Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) — established in July 2022 by the Department of Defense (DoD) to detect and study “objects of interest” — released the draft, Physical Constraints on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, on March 7. It is not an official Pentagon document, but was carried out in partnership with the DoD. It has not been peer-reviewed.
This was posted in a forum I haunt by somebody - it comes from LiveScience. I responded:
Quote:
> According to a Harvard scientist and a Pentagon official, it’s possible. > In a draft paper, the pair said it is feasible an extraterrestrial spaceship could be in our galactic neighborhood On its face, the two statements above aren't really saying anything except "maybe there are aliens". That's the History Channel game. > It has not been peer-reviewed. This is very important. It's not science without peer-review. It may as well be astrology. This is just a fluff piece on some junk science.
I used to blame the journos for their ignorance about science and their rush to get clicks and attention for perpetuating this kind of thing. But eventually I realized that really, it's our responsibility to be mindful of what we take into our minds in the same way that it applies with our bodies. The reason this stuff gets spread around - the reason journos keep getting clicks for it in the first place - is a dearth of critical thinking skills. Is it any surprise then, that conspiracy theories abound on the Internet, and that that bleeds over into our reality? QAnon, et al. In some western European countries they teach critical thinking in the classroom while kids are still young. It floors me that we don't do that in school where I live. It seems so fundamental to thinking. Otherwise you just glom onto whatever affirms you or makes you feel good.
Given enough time, anything is possible. Oscillating, expanding; take your choice.
"Before entering on an understanding, I have meditated for a long time, and have foreseen what might happen. It is not genius which reveals to me suddenly, secretly, what I have to say or to do in a circumstance unexpected by other people; it is reflection, it is meditation." - Napoleon I
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Whatever they're doing, Western Europe's schools perform far better than the ones in my country.
To err is human. Fortune favors the monsters.
Do not worry... they are trying very hard to get to the same level... :doh: :sigh:
M.D.V. ;) If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about? Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
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honey the codewitch wrote:
Maybe the Internet made it worse. I don't know.
It certainly allows it to travel broader and faster than ever before. :sigh:
TTFN - Kent
Which kind of end confirming Einstein's quote... :sigh:
M.D.V. ;) If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about? Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
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Could an alien mothership be hovering around the solar system, sending out tiny probes to explore planets? According to a Harvard scientist and a Pentagon official, it’s possible.
In a draft paper, the pair said it is feasible an extraterrestrial spaceship could be in our galactic neighborhood, exploring the region by the means of “dandelion seeds” — small spacecraft that can gather and send back information, similar to the way humans send out spacecraft to explore planets.
Avi Loeb, an astronomer at Harvard University, and Sean M. Kirkpatrick, director of the Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) — established in July 2022 by the Department of Defense (DoD) to detect and study “objects of interest” — released the draft, Physical Constraints on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, on March 7. It is not an official Pentagon document, but was carried out in partnership with the DoD. It has not been peer-reviewed.
This was posted in a forum I haunt by somebody - it comes from LiveScience. I responded:
Quote:
> According to a Harvard scientist and a Pentagon official, it’s possible. > In a draft paper, the pair said it is feasible an extraterrestrial spaceship could be in our galactic neighborhood On its face, the two statements above aren't really saying anything except "maybe there are aliens". That's the History Channel game. > It has not been peer-reviewed. This is very important. It's not science without peer-review. It may as well be astrology. This is just a fluff piece on some junk science.
I used to blame the journos for their ignorance about science and their rush to get clicks and attention for perpetuating this kind of thing. But eventually I realized that really, it's our responsibility to be mindful of what we take into our minds in the same way that it applies with our bodies. The reason this stuff gets spread around - the reason journos keep getting clicks for it in the first place - is a dearth of critical thinking skills. Is it any surprise then, that conspiracy theories abound on the Internet, and that that bleeds over into our reality? QAnon, et al. In some western European countries they teach critical thinking in the classroom while kids are still young. It floors me that we don't do that in school where I live. It seems so fundamental to thinking. Otherwise you just glom onto whatever affirms you or makes you feel good.
They do not want the gen-pop thinking critically, it would make it harder for them to control the masses with FUD. As for the Harvard scientist and Pentagon official's conjecture, it sounds to me like nothing more than they're trying to justify their grants/budget.
There are no solutions, only trade-offs.
- Thomas SowellA day can really slip by when you're deliberately avoiding what you're supposed to do.
- Calvin (Bill Watterson, Calvin & Hobbes) -
Could an alien mothership be hovering around the solar system, sending out tiny probes to explore planets? According to a Harvard scientist and a Pentagon official, it’s possible.
In a draft paper, the pair said it is feasible an extraterrestrial spaceship could be in our galactic neighborhood, exploring the region by the means of “dandelion seeds” — small spacecraft that can gather and send back information, similar to the way humans send out spacecraft to explore planets.
Avi Loeb, an astronomer at Harvard University, and Sean M. Kirkpatrick, director of the Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) — established in July 2022 by the Department of Defense (DoD) to detect and study “objects of interest” — released the draft, Physical Constraints on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, on March 7. It is not an official Pentagon document, but was carried out in partnership with the DoD. It has not been peer-reviewed.
This was posted in a forum I haunt by somebody - it comes from LiveScience. I responded:
Quote:
> According to a Harvard scientist and a Pentagon official, it’s possible. > In a draft paper, the pair said it is feasible an extraterrestrial spaceship could be in our galactic neighborhood On its face, the two statements above aren't really saying anything except "maybe there are aliens". That's the History Channel game. > It has not been peer-reviewed. This is very important. It's not science without peer-review. It may as well be astrology. This is just a fluff piece on some junk science.
I used to blame the journos for their ignorance about science and their rush to get clicks and attention for perpetuating this kind of thing. But eventually I realized that really, it's our responsibility to be mindful of what we take into our minds in the same way that it applies with our bodies. The reason this stuff gets spread around - the reason journos keep getting clicks for it in the first place - is a dearth of critical thinking skills. Is it any surprise then, that conspiracy theories abound on the Internet, and that that bleeds over into our reality? QAnon, et al. In some western European countries they teach critical thinking in the classroom while kids are still young. It floors me that we don't do that in school where I live. It seems so fundamental to thinking. Otherwise you just glom onto whatever affirms you or makes you feel good.
Research courtesy of ChatGPD.
>64 Some days the dragon wins. Suck it up.
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Could an alien mothership be hovering around the solar system, sending out tiny probes to explore planets? According to a Harvard scientist and a Pentagon official, it’s possible.
In a draft paper, the pair said it is feasible an extraterrestrial spaceship could be in our galactic neighborhood, exploring the region by the means of “dandelion seeds” — small spacecraft that can gather and send back information, similar to the way humans send out spacecraft to explore planets.
Avi Loeb, an astronomer at Harvard University, and Sean M. Kirkpatrick, director of the Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) — established in July 2022 by the Department of Defense (DoD) to detect and study “objects of interest” — released the draft, Physical Constraints on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, on March 7. It is not an official Pentagon document, but was carried out in partnership with the DoD. It has not been peer-reviewed.
This was posted in a forum I haunt by somebody - it comes from LiveScience. I responded:
Quote:
> According to a Harvard scientist and a Pentagon official, it’s possible. > In a draft paper, the pair said it is feasible an extraterrestrial spaceship could be in our galactic neighborhood On its face, the two statements above aren't really saying anything except "maybe there are aliens". That's the History Channel game. > It has not been peer-reviewed. This is very important. It's not science without peer-review. It may as well be astrology. This is just a fluff piece on some junk science.
I used to blame the journos for their ignorance about science and their rush to get clicks and attention for perpetuating this kind of thing. But eventually I realized that really, it's our responsibility to be mindful of what we take into our minds in the same way that it applies with our bodies. The reason this stuff gets spread around - the reason journos keep getting clicks for it in the first place - is a dearth of critical thinking skills. Is it any surprise then, that conspiracy theories abound on the Internet, and that that bleeds over into our reality? QAnon, et al. In some western European countries they teach critical thinking in the classroom while kids are still young. It floors me that we don't do that in school where I live. It seems so fundamental to thinking. Otherwise you just glom onto whatever affirms you or makes you feel good.
Ever since the Sixties, I would say that US education has abandoned rigourous, logical thinking in favour of "self affirmation", "feelings", and other distractions. In that, they were only one generation ahead of the rest of the Western world. Western civilization may coast on its past accomplishments for a few more decades, but unless a major shift occurs in the near future - the late 21st and 22nd centuries will be under the ascendancy of South and East Asia. They haven't lost sight of the goals.
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows. -- 6079 Smith W.
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Research courtesy of ChatGPD.
>64 Some days the dragon wins. Suck it up.
ChatGPT is faster at producing average nonsense, but only humans can produce first-class nonsense! :sigh:
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows. -- 6079 Smith W.
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Ever since the Sixties, I would say that US education has abandoned rigourous, logical thinking in favour of "self affirmation", "feelings", and other distractions. In that, they were only one generation ahead of the rest of the Western world. Western civilization may coast on its past accomplishments for a few more decades, but unless a major shift occurs in the near future - the late 21st and 22nd centuries will be under the ascendancy of South and East Asia. They haven't lost sight of the goals.
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows. -- 6079 Smith W.
I think once societies achieve a certain level of advancement, or at least - I struggle for the word here - "decadence" almost covers it but I don't like moral connotations of it generally they tend to rest on their laurels, and even pursue more frivolous aims. Douglas Adams sort of touched on this in his books at a couple of points.
Quote:
“The history of every major galactic civilisation tends to pass through three distinct and recognisable phases, those of Survival, Enquiry and Sophistication, otherwise known as the How, Why and Where phases. For instance, the first phase is characterised by the question How can we eat?, the second by the question Why do we eat?, and the third but the question Where shall we have lunch?”
There's a longer, better quote that dovetails more with what I'm getting at, but it's about shoe stores. It's also too long to comfortably post here. It's basically a short story. I think in the end, there's a global ebb and flow among competing civilizations, as one gets comfortable, the ones that are still hungry will eventually overtake them, but then the comfortable become the hungry. For a long time, China wasn't competitive. Then they were. Maybe it's just our turn.
To err is human. Fortune favors the monsters.
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Could an alien mothership be hovering around the solar system, sending out tiny probes to explore planets? According to a Harvard scientist and a Pentagon official, it’s possible.
In a draft paper, the pair said it is feasible an extraterrestrial spaceship could be in our galactic neighborhood, exploring the region by the means of “dandelion seeds” — small spacecraft that can gather and send back information, similar to the way humans send out spacecraft to explore planets.
Avi Loeb, an astronomer at Harvard University, and Sean M. Kirkpatrick, director of the Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) — established in July 2022 by the Department of Defense (DoD) to detect and study “objects of interest” — released the draft, Physical Constraints on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, on March 7. It is not an official Pentagon document, but was carried out in partnership with the DoD. It has not been peer-reviewed.
This was posted in a forum I haunt by somebody - it comes from LiveScience. I responded:
Quote:
> According to a Harvard scientist and a Pentagon official, it’s possible. > In a draft paper, the pair said it is feasible an extraterrestrial spaceship could be in our galactic neighborhood On its face, the two statements above aren't really saying anything except "maybe there are aliens". That's the History Channel game. > It has not been peer-reviewed. This is very important. It's not science without peer-review. It may as well be astrology. This is just a fluff piece on some junk science.
I used to blame the journos for their ignorance about science and their rush to get clicks and attention for perpetuating this kind of thing. But eventually I realized that really, it's our responsibility to be mindful of what we take into our minds in the same way that it applies with our bodies. The reason this stuff gets spread around - the reason journos keep getting clicks for it in the first place - is a dearth of critical thinking skills. Is it any surprise then, that conspiracy theories abound on the Internet, and that that bleeds over into our reality? QAnon, et al. In some western European countries they teach critical thinking in the classroom while kids are still young. It floors me that we don't do that in school where I live. It seems so fundamental to thinking. Otherwise you just glom onto whatever affirms you or makes you feel good.
i find such reports frustrating also for the reason my critical thinking leads me to conclude it is absurd to speak w/ such confidence re/ aliens who are one millions years more advanced than us .
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Could an alien mothership be hovering around the solar system, sending out tiny probes to explore planets? According to a Harvard scientist and a Pentagon official, it’s possible.
In a draft paper, the pair said it is feasible an extraterrestrial spaceship could be in our galactic neighborhood, exploring the region by the means of “dandelion seeds” — small spacecraft that can gather and send back information, similar to the way humans send out spacecraft to explore planets.
Avi Loeb, an astronomer at Harvard University, and Sean M. Kirkpatrick, director of the Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) — established in July 2022 by the Department of Defense (DoD) to detect and study “objects of interest” — released the draft, Physical Constraints on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, on March 7. It is not an official Pentagon document, but was carried out in partnership with the DoD. It has not been peer-reviewed.
This was posted in a forum I haunt by somebody - it comes from LiveScience. I responded:
Quote:
> According to a Harvard scientist and a Pentagon official, it’s possible. > In a draft paper, the pair said it is feasible an extraterrestrial spaceship could be in our galactic neighborhood On its face, the two statements above aren't really saying anything except "maybe there are aliens". That's the History Channel game. > It has not been peer-reviewed. This is very important. It's not science without peer-review. It may as well be astrology. This is just a fluff piece on some junk science.
I used to blame the journos for their ignorance about science and their rush to get clicks and attention for perpetuating this kind of thing. But eventually I realized that really, it's our responsibility to be mindful of what we take into our minds in the same way that it applies with our bodies. The reason this stuff gets spread around - the reason journos keep getting clicks for it in the first place - is a dearth of critical thinking skills. Is it any surprise then, that conspiracy theories abound on the Internet, and that that bleeds over into our reality? QAnon, et al. In some western European countries they teach critical thinking in the classroom while kids are still young. It floors me that we don't do that in school where I live. It seems so fundamental to thinking. Otherwise you just glom onto whatever affirms you or makes you feel good.
Anymore when I see an article my initial response is: That didn't happen. I'm that way with politics/sports/weather - all of it. Who won the 2023 Super Bowl? I don't even know if the game was even played because I cannot trust a single elephanting thing I see on TV.
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Could an alien mothership be hovering around the solar system, sending out tiny probes to explore planets? According to a Harvard scientist and a Pentagon official, it’s possible.
In a draft paper, the pair said it is feasible an extraterrestrial spaceship could be in our galactic neighborhood, exploring the region by the means of “dandelion seeds” — small spacecraft that can gather and send back information, similar to the way humans send out spacecraft to explore planets.
Avi Loeb, an astronomer at Harvard University, and Sean M. Kirkpatrick, director of the Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) — established in July 2022 by the Department of Defense (DoD) to detect and study “objects of interest” — released the draft, Physical Constraints on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, on March 7. It is not an official Pentagon document, but was carried out in partnership with the DoD. It has not been peer-reviewed.
This was posted in a forum I haunt by somebody - it comes from LiveScience. I responded:
Quote:
> According to a Harvard scientist and a Pentagon official, it’s possible. > In a draft paper, the pair said it is feasible an extraterrestrial spaceship could be in our galactic neighborhood On its face, the two statements above aren't really saying anything except "maybe there are aliens". That's the History Channel game. > It has not been peer-reviewed. This is very important. It's not science without peer-review. It may as well be astrology. This is just a fluff piece on some junk science.
I used to blame the journos for their ignorance about science and their rush to get clicks and attention for perpetuating this kind of thing. But eventually I realized that really, it's our responsibility to be mindful of what we take into our minds in the same way that it applies with our bodies. The reason this stuff gets spread around - the reason journos keep getting clicks for it in the first place - is a dearth of critical thinking skills. Is it any surprise then, that conspiracy theories abound on the Internet, and that that bleeds over into our reality? QAnon, et al. In some western European countries they teach critical thinking in the classroom while kids are still young. It floors me that we don't do that in school where I live. It seems so fundamental to thinking. Otherwise you just glom onto whatever affirms you or makes you feel good.
If you try to introduce critical thought into a conversation you're immediately plastered with the worst caricatures of the opposition and labeled a 'hater'. News: "So Eric enjoys sticking nails up his nose." Me: "That seems like that might hurt." News: "What are you, some kind of Nazi?" Eric's Mother (crying): "My god, how long will the hate continue?" If people want to believe a nose full of iron is good then I say have at it. I no longer care. Chew on arsenic tablets, surf naked in shark filled waters with a ham around your neck, believe an alien mothership is monitoring your every more - I no longer elephanting care because when you try to help you just get kicked in the head. Did that come across as bitter?
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Do not worry... they are trying very hard to get to the same level... :doh: :sigh:
M.D.V. ;) If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about? Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
What level? Have you seen the bio of the leading edge researchers/engineers/technologists? They're not of American ancestry even if they attended American colleges. Head of Microsoft? Indian. Head of Ubuntu? South African. Head of Linux? Finnish. Raspberry Pi? UK. Our typical American hubris needs to be checked. From what I've seen is that schools are more about rote and memorization to do enough to pass the standardized exams than problem solving. I think we've watched too many movies where we somehow come up with a magic way to deliver us from a superior foe (looking at you Independance Day :laugh: ) that we've come to believe that will actually happen instead of prepping for it ahead of time.
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Could an alien mothership be hovering around the solar system, sending out tiny probes to explore planets? According to a Harvard scientist and a Pentagon official, it’s possible.
In a draft paper, the pair said it is feasible an extraterrestrial spaceship could be in our galactic neighborhood, exploring the region by the means of “dandelion seeds” — small spacecraft that can gather and send back information, similar to the way humans send out spacecraft to explore planets.
Avi Loeb, an astronomer at Harvard University, and Sean M. Kirkpatrick, director of the Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) — established in July 2022 by the Department of Defense (DoD) to detect and study “objects of interest” — released the draft, Physical Constraints on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, on March 7. It is not an official Pentagon document, but was carried out in partnership with the DoD. It has not been peer-reviewed.
This was posted in a forum I haunt by somebody - it comes from LiveScience. I responded:
Quote:
> According to a Harvard scientist and a Pentagon official, it’s possible. > In a draft paper, the pair said it is feasible an extraterrestrial spaceship could be in our galactic neighborhood On its face, the two statements above aren't really saying anything except "maybe there are aliens". That's the History Channel game. > It has not been peer-reviewed. This is very important. It's not science without peer-review. It may as well be astrology. This is just a fluff piece on some junk science.
I used to blame the journos for their ignorance about science and their rush to get clicks and attention for perpetuating this kind of thing. But eventually I realized that really, it's our responsibility to be mindful of what we take into our minds in the same way that it applies with our bodies. The reason this stuff gets spread around - the reason journos keep getting clicks for it in the first place - is a dearth of critical thinking skills. Is it any surprise then, that conspiracy theories abound on the Internet, and that that bleeds over into our reality? QAnon, et al. In some western European countries they teach critical thinking in the classroom while kids are still young. It floors me that we don't do that in school where I live. It seems so fundamental to thinking. Otherwise you just glom onto whatever affirms you or makes you feel good.
Required standardized testing is a major factor in eliminating critical thinking from schools. A couple science teachers I know lament how "teaching to the test" ties their hands. The focus is on memorizing predigested facts, and not on understanding how things work.
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honey the codewitch wrote:
it is feasible an extraterrestrial spaceship could be in our galactic neighborhood, exploring the region by the means of "dandelion seeds"
It is feasible that a dragon in another dimension is using small pixies to explore our solar system. I actually give that a higher probability that the prior one because the prior one is limited by the physics (and economics) of this universe while mine is not. But I certainly will not be spending time looking or even thinking about either.
Been wondering where these danged pixies are coming from... It all makes sense now.
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Could an alien mothership be hovering around the solar system, sending out tiny probes to explore planets? According to a Harvard scientist and a Pentagon official, it’s possible.
In a draft paper, the pair said it is feasible an extraterrestrial spaceship could be in our galactic neighborhood, exploring the region by the means of “dandelion seeds” — small spacecraft that can gather and send back information, similar to the way humans send out spacecraft to explore planets.
Avi Loeb, an astronomer at Harvard University, and Sean M. Kirkpatrick, director of the Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) — established in July 2022 by the Department of Defense (DoD) to detect and study “objects of interest” — released the draft, Physical Constraints on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, on March 7. It is not an official Pentagon document, but was carried out in partnership with the DoD. It has not been peer-reviewed.
This was posted in a forum I haunt by somebody - it comes from LiveScience. I responded:
Quote:
> According to a Harvard scientist and a Pentagon official, it’s possible. > In a draft paper, the pair said it is feasible an extraterrestrial spaceship could be in our galactic neighborhood On its face, the two statements above aren't really saying anything except "maybe there are aliens". That's the History Channel game. > It has not been peer-reviewed. This is very important. It's not science without peer-review. It may as well be astrology. This is just a fluff piece on some junk science.
I used to blame the journos for their ignorance about science and their rush to get clicks and attention for perpetuating this kind of thing. But eventually I realized that really, it's our responsibility to be mindful of what we take into our minds in the same way that it applies with our bodies. The reason this stuff gets spread around - the reason journos keep getting clicks for it in the first place - is a dearth of critical thinking skills. Is it any surprise then, that conspiracy theories abound on the Internet, and that that bleeds over into our reality? QAnon, et al. In some western European countries they teach critical thinking in the classroom while kids are still young. It floors me that we don't do that in school where I live. It seems so fundamental to thinking. Otherwise you just glom onto whatever affirms you or makes you feel good.
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people don't want facts they want sensationalism. facts are boring and require logical thoughtful deliberation. Who wants to use their brains in our current society? I can't think of too many people who do.
To err is human to really elephant it up you need a computer
People don't want facts; they want both sensationalism and confirmation of their own beliefs and desires.
ed
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Could an alien mothership be hovering around the solar system, sending out tiny probes to explore planets? According to a Harvard scientist and a Pentagon official, it’s possible.
In a draft paper, the pair said it is feasible an extraterrestrial spaceship could be in our galactic neighborhood, exploring the region by the means of “dandelion seeds” — small spacecraft that can gather and send back information, similar to the way humans send out spacecraft to explore planets.
Avi Loeb, an astronomer at Harvard University, and Sean M. Kirkpatrick, director of the Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) — established in July 2022 by the Department of Defense (DoD) to detect and study “objects of interest” — released the draft, Physical Constraints on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, on March 7. It is not an official Pentagon document, but was carried out in partnership with the DoD. It has not been peer-reviewed.
This was posted in a forum I haunt by somebody - it comes from LiveScience. I responded:
Quote:
> According to a Harvard scientist and a Pentagon official, it’s possible. > In a draft paper, the pair said it is feasible an extraterrestrial spaceship could be in our galactic neighborhood On its face, the two statements above aren't really saying anything except "maybe there are aliens". That's the History Channel game. > It has not been peer-reviewed. This is very important. It's not science without peer-review. It may as well be astrology. This is just a fluff piece on some junk science.
I used to blame the journos for their ignorance about science and their rush to get clicks and attention for perpetuating this kind of thing. But eventually I realized that really, it's our responsibility to be mindful of what we take into our minds in the same way that it applies with our bodies. The reason this stuff gets spread around - the reason journos keep getting clicks for it in the first place - is a dearth of critical thinking skills. Is it any surprise then, that conspiracy theories abound on the Internet, and that that bleeds over into our reality? QAnon, et al. In some western European countries they teach critical thinking in the classroom while kids are still young. It floors me that we don't do that in school where I live. It seems so fundamental to thinking. Otherwise you just glom onto whatever affirms you or makes you feel good.
I taught my own kids, so they got training in critical thinking with every conversation, in every lesson, from before they could talk until they moved out. When I was a kid, my own mother taught me these skills, and because of that, I learned better in schools and recognized when teachers were actually trying to impart the skills for actually learning as opposed to just memorizing for exams. I think I learned more about English grammar from my French teacher than from my very capable Comp and Grammar teacher in high school, because the comparison required critical thinking, whereas diagramming a huge sentence only needed a memorization of the parts of speech, complex as they are.
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If you try to introduce critical thought into a conversation you're immediately plastered with the worst caricatures of the opposition and labeled a 'hater'. News: "So Eric enjoys sticking nails up his nose." Me: "That seems like that might hurt." News: "What are you, some kind of Nazi?" Eric's Mother (crying): "My god, how long will the hate continue?" If people want to believe a nose full of iron is good then I say have at it. I no longer care. Chew on arsenic tablets, surf naked in shark filled waters with a ham around your neck, believe an alien mothership is monitoring your every more - I no longer elephanting care because when you try to help you just get kicked in the head. Did that come across as bitter?
Quote:
Did that come across as bitter?
Yes, but understandably so. The quandary is this: who is listening in to your response? The news certainly, the mother in your example, yes, but who else? Does your response embolden others to think their own thoughts, to stop deriding themselves for thinking such "hateful" things? Do your words make anyone think? How important is that? We change the world one mind at a time by politely, concisely, and audibly dissenting.
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Quote:
Did that come across as bitter?
Yes, but understandably so. The quandary is this: who is listening in to your response? The news certainly, the mother in your example, yes, but who else? Does your response embolden others to think their own thoughts, to stop deriding themselves for thinking such "hateful" things? Do your words make anyone think? How important is that? We change the world one mind at a time by politely, concisely, and audibly dissenting.