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[–] 51 points 1 month ago* (13 children)

Idiots exist with or without knowledge. What the world needs to learn is to not put idiots into positions of power, and to remove the ones that found their way into power.

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  • [–] 11 points 1 month ago (2 children)

    That's absolutely right; the only problem is that those chief-idiot are so rich that they control most of what the Internet means to the vast majority of people.

    That's just how people are, unfortunately, as evidenced by the fact that platforms like Twitter or Reddit, for example, are still used by the masses.

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  • [–] 7 points 1 month ago (7 children)

    Sorry, idiots are popular with idiots so the idiots vote for the idiot and now the idiot is in charge.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 month ago* (5 children)

    Yes, because idiots allowed vile malicious non-idiots to gain control of their "news" media and stock markets, so OFC that went down hill fast.

    Again: It's all about preventing and removing idiots from power, not about trying to control the masses of idiots.

    You control the up-stream. Fighting down-stream is just begging to be pissed on.

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    [–] 20 points 1 month ago (6 children)

    Recently there was a rumor spreading around my work that the earth was about to lose gravity for seven seconds and they should stay home to be safe.

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  • [–] 9 points 1 month ago* (1 child)

    No, no. It’s absolutely true.

    Scientists have known for years that the Earth’s gravitational field is remarkably stable, except when I fart.

    At precisely 8:47 PM, I unleashed a fart of such extraordinary magnitude that NASA immediately detected a gravitational anomaly.

    For exactly seven seconds, gravity simply gave up.

    Cars floated. Birds were suddenly extremely confused. Somewhere in Ohio, a man watched his refrigerator slowly drift toward the ceiling.

    NASA scrambled to identify the source.

    “Where is this coming from?”

    The technician checked the instruments.

    “Sir… Georgia.”

    A long silence followed.

    “Dear God.”

    At exactly seven seconds, gravity returned.

    Scientists are now studying the event.

    I have been asked not to fart again.

    I have declined to comment.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

    I do oft wonder about the Dzhanibekov effect, and what the inertial effects (direction/strength/duration/curves/etc) would be like at each location on the spinning object, and if Earth's Large Low-Velocity Provinces (LLVPs) or Large Low Shear Velocity Provinces are sufficient tributary oscillation to trigger a flip as some interpretations of the evidence suggest has happened to earth before (most recent suggestion I heard, this may have happened 700,000 years ago, iirc ~ or was it 700 million... I forget), ... and in that moment, would there be locations that experience an effective loss of local gravity for seconds?

    If such is going to happen (or just a magnetic flip, or a corona mass ejection, or a X100 flare, or a meteor bombardment, a rogue planet flyby perturbing orbits, or whatever other calamitous disruption to the pleasant habitability of Earth), to be safe, I think I'd rather have a spaceship to fly away instantly in, than stay home. (I guess humans should not have been industrially sabotaging and suppressing that arc of human made technological innovation for a century or two.)

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  • [–] 16 points 1 month ago (6 children)

    Flat Earther: Complicated explanation on why it's flat

    Me: Your argument is flawed. Look the earth is flat but your argument is missing the important part.

    Flat Earther: (leans in with excitement)

    Me: The oceans, all of them, none of them are carbonated... all flat!

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  • [–] 14 points 1 month ago (3 children)

    the more co2 we put in the atmosphere, the more carbonated the oceans will become

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  • [–] 5 points 1 month ago (2 children)

    Fun fact, CO2 dissolved in water is acidic so not only are we heating it up we're also poisoning it too!

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  • [–] 14 points 1 month ago* (2 children)

    Exactly, the image is wrong. The internet does not provide unlimited access to knowledge, it provides (easily manipulable) access to information which may or may not be true.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 month ago (1 child)

    It does provide nearly unlimited access to knowledge. But, the Internet user needs to bring their own ability distinguish knowledge from strongly held ignorant opinions.

    If you're an eye surgeon you can probably use the Internet to find out the newest techniques in eye surgery. You probably have enough knowledge of your own to spot fraudulent things, and to know where the real information can be found and how it can be vetted. OTOH, if you're an eye surgeon, you might know nothing about farming, so you might not be able to separate the wheat from the chaff. If you're not careful you might come away believing some crazy farming-related conspiracies.

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  • [–] 14 points 1 month ago (2 children)

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodybuilding.com#2008_days-in-a-week_debate

    Or spending multiple days arguing whether there are 7 or 8 days in a week.

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  • [–] 12 points 1 month ago (5 children)

    Unlimited access to information, including finite amounts of knowledge, but also unlimited access to unlimited amounts of not-knowledge-at-all.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 month ago

    This is something I realised growing. Information and actual knowledge are two separate things.

    The former is withour filter and the latter is under scrutiny for proper verification. In the hands of layman, it can be impossible to properly determine.

    The current LLM mania is just an extension of that 'validation through evidence' that has been on-going.

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    [–] 11 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 child)

    Back when people were saying that unlimited access to knowledge was possible, they were also saying "don't feed the trolls".

    When you engage with someone making a stupid statement or argument, you lend them your intellectual legitimacy. You implicitly acknowledge that, "this viewpoint is grounded enough to be worthy of debate". In reality, some viewpoints are so absurd and ridiculous that they are not worthy of debate, and you get a societal benefit from simply laughing at them rather than engaging with them like they are legitimate people that can be persuaded by science and debate.

    Stop feeding the trolls.

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    [–] 10 points 1 month ago* (2 children)

    “Nazis are bad”

    “AckShUaLlY…”

    Actually shut all the way the fuck up.

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    [–] 6 points 1 month ago

    I never feed trolls and I don't read spam

    -Albert Yankovich (early '00s philosopher)

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  • [–] 5 points 1 month ago

    It’s not flat, mountains exist.

    Bumpiness is not flat!

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  • [–] 5 points 1 month ago (1 child)

    People were having those 6 hour arguments back then and before, too.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 month ago (1 child)

    Internet can connect people, so that Flat Earthers can expose Australians being all actors, because Australia doesn't exist!

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  • [–] 3 points 1 month ago

    The internet DOES give you unlimited access to knowledge. The problem is:

    1. Not all of that knowledge is useful

    2. Learning is pretty boring when compared to arguing with someone about a book neither of you have read but are too proud to admit it.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 month ago (1 child)

    Flat earthers all over the globe unite!

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  • [–] 3 points 1 month ago

    Also in 2005: a forum post about gingerbread recipies hijacked for a 20 page long debate about the existance of God

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  • [–] 3 points 1 month ago

    You think 2005 was like that?

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  • [–] 2 points 1 month ago

    It's both, the earth is like a pringle.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 month ago

    Untill I see an ocean bubble from the carbonation I'll believe it's flat

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  • [–] 2 points 1 month ago

    The earth is fat.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 month ago

    Critical thinking must have reached criticality and melted down.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 month ago

    Nobody read it, cause nobody wrote it.

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