With each passing day I grow more disillusioned with the ultimate fate of humanity.
Meaning I don't think we have one.
Now known as "Alternate Facts," misinformation is ruining everything. Everybody is so happy to stay in their little confirmation bias bubbles that they no longer feel the need to challenge their beliefs by examining expert points of view on stuff. Nope. If people say you're off your fucking nut because of the crazy shit you believe, all you have to do is go on the internet and you're guaranteed to find people who think just like you do! See?!? You're not crazy! BiggieTruther6578* says so! Fuck science and actual facts! Who needs science and actual facts? BiggieTruther6578 must know what they're talking about because they're smart like me is!
I could write a blog post about a new conspiracy theory or some random bit of misinformation every week for the rest of my life and not even come close to listing them all. You've seen the internet! It's packed with the stuff! In lieu of driving myself mad doing something self-destructive like that, I'll just focus on two of the most disturbing concepts facing all humankind in this age of misinformation.... The fake becoming real and the real becoming fake.
BUT WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?
Glad you asked! With a little help from Hbomberguy, here's examples for you...
The Fake Becomes Real: THERE'S A WAR ON CHRISTMAS!!!
As a non-Christian who never has anybody wishing him a "Happy Bodhi Day," I'm genuinely puzzled by the so-called "War on Christmas." It makes absolutely no fucking sense. You can still walk into your local government post office and buy a religious Christmas stamp (assuming you didn't wait too long and they're sold out), so how can there be a war on it? Especially given the overwhelming number of people who celebrate Christmas. How is it that somebody wanting to be inclusive of the many, many holidays this time of year by saying "Happy Holidays" erasing Christmas or declaring war on anything... WHEN CHRISTMAS IS A HOLIDAY AND INCLUDED WHEN YOU SAY "HAPPY HOLIDAYS??!" Nope. This is 1000% about Christians imagining they're being persecuted because it makes them feel special and closer to Jesus. Or whatever. Never mind that other holidays exist, either Christmas is the ONLY holiday in December, or else... WE'RE AT WAR!! It's like... how fucking fragile is your faith that somebody saying "Happy Holidays" is this triggering?
The Real Becomes Fake: THE EARTH IS NOT A GLOBE!!!
Honest to God I do not understand Flerfers (Flat Earthers). The earth being flat was debunked in 245 BC when a Greek guy named Eratosthenes measured the shadow coming off a fucking stick. Not only that, but by measuring the shadow off a stick in two different places, he was able to accurately calculate the circumference of the globe we're living on. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Technology has come a long, long way since 245 BC. We've been to the frickin' moon and pointed a camera back at the planet for God's sake (though flerfers have to call the moon landings fake despite every argument being debunked, because if the moon landings happened the earth really is a globe). But you don't even need any fancy technology like satellites and shit. Just shoot a rifle over very long distances in the Northern and Southern hemisphere and watch how your bullet veers off-target in different directions because of the Coriolis effect* (a side-effect of the rotation of the globe). Hell, you don't even need that. Just watch a ship disappear over the horizon. Good God... there's a hundred ways to verify the earth is a globe with your own eyes because if it wasn't, the things you're seeing make no sense.
But anyway...
You get the picture. To the people who've been conned into believing that fake stuff is real and real stuff is fake, there's simply no debate. No amount of evidence will dissuade them. THEY know the truth and YOU are a deluded moron. What happened to the time when people accepted new information and were willing to change their minds to accomodate it? Well, they still exist. But it's the ignorant masses who are growing in numbers and power. And that doesn't bode well for humanity.
I mean, it bodes very well for the people profiting off all the misinformation and lies. No debate there.
But humanity?
We're fucked.
At the time of this writing, BiggieTruther6578 doesn't exist. I checked on Google to make sure. So if, for some reason, BiggieTruther6578 actually ends up being a real person one day... oops. I'm talking about the fictional BiggieTruther6578 that I made up. I'm sure that you are right about everything.
*One of the best ways to refute flerfers who base their flerfiness on Scripture, is to present them with one of the most hardcore organizations for literal Scripture... Answers in Genesis. These are the people who believe that the earth is only 6000 years old and dinosaurs existed at the same time as people (I've been to their museum!). Even they believe that earth is a globe. They have an article on their website about how the Coriolis effect is misunderstood by flerfers and everything. And that's not all. They basically call flerfers stupid because they've regressed from what was clearly understood in the Middle Ages: earth is a sphere. I sometimes wonder if you got a flerfer in the same room with an Answers in Genesis apologist if they would cancel themselves out like matter and anti-matter and explode.
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