Burning Snow?

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by jyl

Were people this stupid when we were younger?

Even moreso....

But they were a LOT older than we were ... and we carried on the tradition.

Y&D

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally Posted by jyl

Were people this stupid when we were younger?

Originally Posted by jyl

Social media lets the idiots find each other and self-reinforce.

Stupid people are one of the greatest threats the U.S. faces today. Back when we were young, stupid people were harmless. Generally, they kept themselves and had zero impact on society and culture. They were invisible.

The Internet changed that. The effect of the web, specifically online forums and social media in general, allows stupid people to have a voice, one with near unlimited volume. And they can build communities of like-minded stupid people that self-reinforce lunacy through conspiracy theory mythology, pretty much the same as early Man creating myths to explain things they didn't understand like the sun rising every day. Their "facts" are authenticated by sheer volume alone. This allows them to be easily controlled and exploited.

The Internet has become a welfare state for stupid people applies in the same way a government handout does for lazy people. It makes you feel intelligent and your voice/opinion valued without ever having to do the work/research/reading to earn those qualities. In the process, truth is marginalized in favor of artificial self-esteem, so you have a positive reinforcement complex for negative qualities. I think that’s a critical element to my thesis: the creation and nurturing of artificial self-esteem.

Opinion media has turbocharged this effect, exploiting stupid people with no critical thinking skills for massive profits. Talking heads create entire soap opera style narratives and storylines that lures stupid people into a distinct Us vs. Them community and culture, especially enticing because it elevates stupid people up to the level of those that may have taunted them in their youth and adulthood, intelligent, successful people, at least in their eyes. It mixes reality TV with soap opera with news creating a groupthink culture where like-minded people fit in and feel comfortable in their echo chamber. It's more participatory, which is a key attribute, than as portrayed in the movie Idiocracy relying on a continuous cycle of peer reinforcement that makes a group think it is one thing (intelligent with a significant depth and breadth of knowledge matched with critical thinking abilities) that it clearly is not.

[john70t]

The spraying of 'chem-trails' is no longer a conspiracy theory.
There are published scientific articles in the fields and in government budgets..

1. It could be a hoax. Cut scene. The snow on the ground might not be the same as in the hand. The one in hand could be a mix of Styrofoam or other materials. Easy enough. White is white. Plus with deepfakes these days we should retain a bit of skepticism.

2. It could have natural basis. The snowball re-froze on the outside because it was cold. It is of porous nature because of conditions. The black marks are from the lighter as it is burning yellow and producing carbon.

3. The snowball composition could have been affected by chemicals in the air.


(but complete denial should never be automatic when there is missing information. Here is an example of: Admit water will burn due to chemicals within. Strongly deny that any of chemicals used in fracking were involved per highest scientific authority. Threaten results with legal fraud and any further conversation. Deny any other factors or combination of factors could be responsible)

https://www.cred.org/is-fracking-connected-to-burning-tap-water/
methane gas occurs naturally in groundwater in sedimentary basins in Colorado and around the world, according to the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC). Some towns like Burning Springs, West Virginia were given their name hundreds of years ago because water sources could be lit on fire due to naturally occurring methane bubbling up into their streams. According to researchers in Colorado, “[methane] also is found in large quantities in the basin from naturally occurring, biogenic sources.”

[911_Dude]

Not sure what the neighbor "burned" the snow with, probably a lighter or torch. Otherwise, you are just melting it. But that kind of flame held close to anything will leave a carbon deposit. Critical thinking is hard, I guess.

[HobieMarty]

Originally Posted by 911_Dude

Not sure what the neighbor "burned" the snow with, probably a lighter or torch. Otherwise, you are just melting it. But that kind of flame held close to anything will leave a carbon deposit. Critical thinking is hard, I guess.

Not a neighbor. It was a former coworker of mine who told me about burning a snowball. She's a bit on the kooky side, so I didn't really take what she was saying to heart, and I am not an advocate or believer of such conspiracy theories.
Just yesterday, I heard a coworker talking about "the government trying to kill us," and "when have you ever seen snow come from the gulf?" People will believe what they want to believe. The guy in the video I posted was debunking all of the fake and burning snow stuff.

Sent from my SM-S916U using Tapatalk

[911_Dude]

I think we reached Peak Civilization within the last 10-15 years. Its all downhill from here, unless we can get our shiz together.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

^^^ there's far too much money to be made for that to happen. Monetizing stupidity may be approaching a trillion dollar cultural enterprise

[berettafan]

So our duck boat had a ton of ice toward the transom after the big snow a few weeks back. One thing we tried was using a MAP torch to get to the plugs so we could drain the bit that melted in the sun. Sure as heck the ice burned. Not black as i recall but there was a flame ON the ice. I thought it was odd but then just figured must be gasses from the torch attached to the ice or whatever.

I didn't take it to mean the US Gov't was trying to melt my brain or anything.

[cockerpunk]

all of these things have an easily googable explanation.

the problem is the true believers dont care.

[911_Dude]

Originally Posted by Shaun @ Tru6

^^^ there's far too much money to be made for that to happen. Monetizing stupidity may be approaching a trillion dollar cultural enterprise

You may be right. But that can only last so long. Stupid doen not survive in the wild.

[Mahler9th]

ALL human beings are vulnerable.


Not ALL vulnerability is to potential physical threats.

An example of one area of non-physical vulnerability is in how our interactions with fellow humans can affect us. Once there were two humans and they could communicate with one another, this vulnerability was realized.

Non-verbal, verbal and written language likely evolved over very long periods.


Perhaps our current capabilities in the area of human to human communications evolved and spread more quickly and to more humans than ever before in human history.

Prior to 2010 I discussed this topic with a lot of friends. In 2010 I attended a wedding of an old friend.

Lots of smart people there and at my table during the reception we had a conversation about this when I asked the journalist sitting next to me (an F1 fan) about the top 3-5 changes he thought were most impactful during his 40 years in print and TV journalism.

The groom was the CEO of a vaccine company. He later got $1.8 billion or so in operation warp speed during the Trump administration. He married a multi-decade veteran with experience in the same areas of business.

The CEO of UHC was there.

What can we expect of ourselves and our fellow humans when things are changing this fast?

"Men at some time are masters of their fates:
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings."

Cassius

Julius Caesar Act I, Scene II, by Wm. Shakespeare

"The fault, dear humans, is not in our technology (exempli gratia, social media),
But in ourselves, that we are underlings."

Let us not be underlings.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally Posted by 911_Dude

You may be right. But that can only last so long. Stupid doen not survive in the wild.

I wish we weren't so far past natural selection theory that you were right. Mike Judge was a prophet.