CTH has encountered criticism for our position on information. Perhaps it is important to step back and explain exactly why we should not be playing by rules established to control us while engaged in the battle of ideas. First, my position:
…”There is no such thing as “disinformation” or “misinformation”. There is only information you accept and information you do not accept. You were not born with a requirement to believe everything you are told; rather, you were born with a brain that allows you to process the information you receive and make independent decisions.”…
There are only two elements within the public discussion of information, truth and not truth.
In an era filled with “fact-checkers” and institutional guardians at the gates of Big Tech, let me explain exactly why it is important not to accept the speech rules of the guards.
When you accept the terms “disinformation”, “misinformation” or the newest lingo, “malinformation,” you are beginning to categorize truth and lies in various shades. You are merging black and white, right and wrong, into various shades of grey.
When your mind works in the grey zone, you are, by direct and factual consequence, saying there is a problem. You are correct; however, this is where people may make a mistake. That problem is supposed to be there.
It is not a solution to the problem to try and remove the grey simply because it takes too much work to separate the white pixels from the black ones. You were born with a gift, the greatest gift a loving God could provide. You were born with a brain and set of natural instincts that are tools to do this pixel separation, use them.
If you define the grey work as a problem you cannot solve on your own, you open the door for others to solve that problem for you. You begin to abdicate the work, and that’s when trouble can enter. The sliding scale of Pinocchios is one of the most familiar yet goofy outcomes.
Put more clearly, when you accept the terminology “disinformation”, you accept a problem. The problem is then the tool by which authorities will step in to make judgements. Speech, in its most consequential form, is then qualified by others to whom you have sub-contracted your thinking.
When you willingly sub-contract information filters to others, you have lost connection with the raw information. CTH was founded upon the belief that truth has no agenda, nor does it care about you, your feelings, or your opinion of it. It just sits there, empirically existing as evidence of information in its most pure form.
The search for truth, in all things, is the mission objective of this assembly. Often, we don’t like the truth; often, the truth is bitter, cold, challenging and even painful to accept. However, the truth doesn’t care. Information in its most raw form is ambivalent to your opinion. If you struggle to accept these things, that’s when you need grey. The New York Times is not called the “grey lady” accidentally.
Personally, I am an absorber of information – perhaps on a scale that is unusual. But I do not discount information from any form until I can put context to it and see if the information makes sense given all the variables present. When something doesn’t feel right, it’s almost always because it isn’t right.
Often, I find myself struggling in the grey and complex. It is not unusual to spend days researching, digging, clarifying a situation, only to discover the path to finding the truth is in another direction entirely. Erasing everything and starting over is frustrating, but it is genuinely the only approach that works; and often finding truth is supposed to be difficult, that’s why it is rewarding.
In the digital information age, we are bombarded with information. It is easy to be overwhelmed and need to find something or someone who has better skills at separating the black grains from the white ones. All opinions in this quest should be considered; thus, it is important to allow the free flow of information.
I am not necessarily a speech absolutist. There is some language that needs to be constrained if we are to participate in a respectful society, with grandma’s rules and knowing the audience. The CTH has guidelines for comments for this exact reason. However, those constraints need to be based on a set of inherent values. When it comes to information it is important to draw a distinction from speech.
There needs to be an open venue for all information. Unfortunately, when we begin to apply labels or categorization to information, there’s an opportunity for information to be manipulated – even weaponized. Saul Alinsky spent decades pondering the best techniques to weaponize information and speech. Alinsky’s intentions in the endeavor to change society by changing how language and information was used were not good. He devoted his completed rulebook book to Lucifer.
Be careful about anyone saying we need to label or categorize information in order to control or remove speech from the discussion.
You were not born with a requirement to believe everything you are told; rather, you were born with a God-given brain that allows you to process the information you receive and make independent decisions.
Reminder:
Graham, Klobuchar, McCain, 2016.
Sounds like they wanted to kick this off earlier. But Trump probably stopped them?
Listen to 1 min. vid.
Graham pretends not to know he was there saying what he said.
Whoa!!! I went looking for the video of McCain, Miss Lindsey and the former US ambassador to Ukraine ( the one Trump fired before she went on to “testify” against him at the Ukraine Impeachment) at the award ceremony. McCain is getting some medal and Miss Lindsey looks very uncomfortable being filmed. Can’t find it any more. I’m sure that wasn’t the only trip they took to Ukraine, but there are a ton of clips of them “rallying the troops” with speeches like this and in larger outdoor forums. Anyway, I saw this one last night while I was looking. Youtube loves those neocons.
Truth is independent in its own sphere of existence. Truth is a knowledge of things as they really are, they really were, and as they will become.
It cannot be altered. It is spiritually discerned, although it can be confirmed intellectually through experience. (Or, the other way around.)
There are many, on Earth, who do not care one whit about truth. They only care about what they want. They will say and do nearly anything to get what they want….no matter who it hurts, if even themselves.
A few facts…it’s obvious the current congress and administration want to use the conflict in the Ukraine for political cover and to force a green economy which the multinational are pushing to happen. We know it. We know both Russia and the Ukraine are rife with corruption are masters of propaganda and can be brutal to even their own people. We know without a shred of doubt or media is populated with morons and ideologues. We know our intel agencies create crimes from whole cloth and have actively worked to remove a duly elected president Meuller Vindman weissman comey strozk clapper Brennan….ad nauseam….dirty political partisans thoroughly corrupt. These agencies politicians and media all working together to construct narratives push agendas and now openly silencing and criminalizing dissent. We know things can be better because we just saw a man outside of DC become president and despite a concerted effort by all these players to destroy him he made us strong and prosperous. In the end these ruthless bastards had to use a once in a century pandemic to create conditions to steal an election and install a desdicated husk of a buffoon and his chittering chimpanzee of a VP….both utterly bereft of intelligence or stature. We have eyes we have minds and we have memories WHY THE F#CK SHOULD WE BELUEVE THESE F8LTHY BASTARDS ABOUT THE UKRAINE NOW SUNDANCE? All they’ve earned is our contempt not our trust. Let them call me Putins puppet or anything else I wear their accusations as a badge of honor.
January 9, 2017:
Obama White House Lifts U.S. Ban On Pathogen Gain-of-Function Research.
https : // obamawhitehouse . archives . gov/blog/2017/01/09/recommended-policy-guidance-potential-pandemic-pathogen-care-and-oversight
January 10, 2017:
Fauci Says “No Question” Trump Will Face “Surprise Outbreak”.
https : // www . usatoday . com/story/news/factcheck/2020/07/29/fact-check-2017-anthony-fauci-warned-potential-outbreak/5494601002/
Google Project 201
but the green economy simply will not work at scale
there is not enough planetary surface to put all the unreliables and their related infrastructure grid
the green monsters will fail. but how long will it take for the normies to get it?
They don’t really want it to work. They want to use it to gain power and tax the hell out of us.
and the crazy thing is with quantitative easing and fiat printing our taxes don’t cover a tiny fraction of the budget or debt.
It’s to enslave us more
BRAVO!!!!!!!!! So well said!
Best message, use what God had given to you! Your brain is amazing, use it!
…. and I would also say – God did not create people to be robots.
Zundahhnce spr-r-r-ead deezeenfor-r-r -mahtsyiah?…dah?…..no, he doesn’t…pack your deep state ass outta here…creeps
Outstanding read…
As I’ve always said, common sense is unfortunately an uncommon virtue, but specifically for liberals.
Oh, not just libs. I’ve witnessed it from those in every political faction.
Sundance references speech and agenda…one item of discourse which I find increasingly irritating is the greens references to “carbon”… as in climate change a global warming and that whole bowl of claptrap….carbon this and carbon that is batted about cavalierely as if it were a proper reference of the focus of the climate change crowd…it isn’t….carbon is a dark solid substance somewhat reminiscent of coal…what is their issue is ” carbon dioxide”….I call on pundits and posters to cease taking the lazy way out and to start calling the greenies fictious “problem”, which they are making our real problem what it is…which is to say ” carbon dioxide” not “carbon”…don’t let the left control the language.
and carbon dioxide = required plant food
CO2 represents about .04% of 1% of our atmosphere…four PPB or parts per billion….stated in a linear scale, if one were to compare CO2 content to one mile of distance…5,280 feet…carbon dioxide would represent about 2.4 feet of that mile…miniscule at best…the earth has been warming for eons and the atmosphere weighs a billion trillion tons…or so…CO2 is of no consequence to earth or to humans…the logical argument is to be made that more CO2 is better. As you stated…plant food…plants love it…and plant cover cools the earth.
In the weed growing operations, they pump co2 in to make the plants grow faster.
Kent, spot on.
I have been flogging that horse to death for years.
I find it even better when I call CO2 plant food. That gets ‘them’ going.
Then I ALWAYS call the slight natural heating from the last ice age Global Warming.
Lots of info here:
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/03/lawmaker-calls-full-investigation-collusion-big-tech-mainstream-media-democrats/
ooh, just like you and Sen. Grassley did for GunWalker and Fast and Furious. Then you went to Davos, and the whole thing went away.
I feel a sternly worded letter incoming…shoosh, there it goes, and…nothing.
Thank you Sundance. You are such a GEM. Had to take a break today because I felt chills, etc. But I have enough homeopathic remedies in my “medicine cabinet” to heal an ill elephant.
So I took the day off and started reading “Rainbow Six” by Tom Clancy. As I write, I am on page 161 of 895 pages. I thought ” I know where this story is going” around about page 22. I am captured.
*****
Meanwhile here is a Biden thingy from Zero Hedge.
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/resurfaced-clip-biden-boasting-he-proposed-natos-78-day-airstrikes-belgrade-goes-viral
I used to be a classmate with a person from Yugoslavia while it was being bombed back then. The internet, nothing existed then except maybe a telephone. Here this person was in the US to get an education while the very same were bombing the sh&t out of her country. In her shoes, I’d would have had to leave school and good home, or face a nervous breakdown.
Mayhaps there is a quote in the Bible, or any other faith the quote, “Think for yourself ” I am starting to recognize that the human’s who I share this life with are NOT very comfortable with that “sentiment.”
I will endeavor to treat them all kindly.
“It is not a solution to the problem to try and remove the grey simply because it takes too much work to separate the white pixels from the black ones.”
Exactly! The struggle to identify the nuggets of truth, the black pixels. The uncontrollable drive to then link them into a view from 30,000 feet is my curse. It has me searching for nuggets and bits in the most unlikely places.
The reason I search the unlikely places is that the left, in its hubris, can not keep itself from telling us exactly what they are up to, either by their words or deeds. Like when Trudeau gave away the end game of de-banking anyone who gets out of line, and was immediately yanked back in line himself by … someone … for jumping the gun.
I have never been a fan of Ayn Rand, but a saying of hers comes to mind in the context of this struggle for truth. Paraphrasing, it is this: There are no such things as contradictions. When you think you are seeing a contradiction, one of your assumptions is false.
Trapper,
First a big thank you to Sundance – he truly is a ray of sunshine in this darkening world.
Trapper – I wonder if you could help me?
Last week whilst traversing the internet, I came across a website which showed several pictures supposedly depicting the Ukrainian war.
Most were shown to be fake?
For instance some were from a star war film, others were old pics from Syria and other war zones.
Unfortunately I did not book mark the site.
Can you or Sundance or some other sleuth find the web site please?
Thank you.
Btw I often use that ‘wonderful’ Germanic term Lugen Presse to describe the Enemydia.
There are quite a few places that are debunking photos and videos from Ukraine. Type “fake ukraine war photos” into Duck Duck Go and you get a lot. Here is the BBC site, of all places, that gives a few.
https://www.bbc.com/news/60528276
trapper: reference DDG… as I understand it from my computer ‘tech’ guy, all of your info when you use DDG, still goes to Google. I used DDG for years.
He suggested the BRAVE browser… which I now use. Thoughts?
Thank you, Sundance. Too many have sub-contracted out thinking to the suits on their television screen.
“You were not born with a requirement to believe everything you are told; rather, you were born with a God-given brain that allows you to process the information you receive and make independent decisions.”
Now THAT is truth.
The raw green new deal is behind this! This is not a war between Russia and Ukraine—but NWO and Russia i think. Russia seems to know where all the bodies are buried internationally AND where the weapons stockpiles are buried. I think Russia is doing us a HUGE favor—maybe we will be inspired to clean up our own backyards. All the ones Putin sanctioned is very telling.
I like you take on truth. Actually, truth is not complicated. When it gets complicated that is where the grey comes in. When I was about 16 years old i asked one of the most powerful chairmen of the senate “well if congress doent make law, who does?” We were in his office and i had never heard him whisper. His answer which he whispered was “grey suits.” And that was all he said
It wasn’t long ago when Mika Mouse Brezinski told us it was her job to tell us what to think.
Mrs. Price – 1962, 6th grade teacher at Smythe Alethea Elementary School- Best Teacher Ever. Do your Research!
Excellent article, Sundance! The problem is that the “brain” that God has given everyone has been WILLINGLY brainwashed by many i.e. indoctrination, wash, rinse, repeat. Others refuse to use functions of the brain involving critical thinking, logic, common sense, deciphering TRUTH from LIES etc etc. And still, others WILLINGLY permitted their brain cells to atrophy into as the late great Rush Limbaugh would say…”A PILE OF MUSH”!
As a healthcare professional, the shutting down of investigational evidence in regards to the virus & vaccine & mandates, was a home run for those wanting & needing to hide something.
Ultimately, we live or die based on valid information & continuing research.
Those obstructing discovery are roadblocks, to be shoved aside.
Ditto on investigating election fraud.
Re: my earlier comment.
I tell people “this is true for me, do your own research and find what is true for you.”
I always leave myself out of it. I just say, “This is what is true.”
People who are interested in discovering truth will automatically consider it. People who are not, will automatically reject it.
isn’t that why they call it “Grey Matter”?
PS Lurv your Think Different graphic Sundance!
Good point. Truth or lies. There is no grey zone.
Sundance, such a thoughtful essay. This one gets saved so I can re-read it from time to time. Thanks
Information without context is propaganda.
They, the Alinsky types, are changing the language, history, permitted speech and information.
In the early days on AOL dial-up I helped my kindergarten or 1st grade daughter with a report on George Washington. I was amazed about the information I could find compared to untold hours at the library and copy machine. I thought this is the greatest invention in the world and how everyone would benefit. I never thought ahead to the day when you would look up George Washington and the narrative would be he is a white supremacist and oppressor. It would have been difficult in the old days to get all librarians to only show you 5 approved books, now a few big tech gatekeepers can manipulate the information that everyone in the world sees.
Years ago I cancelled our local newspaper. A rep called and offered me a discount to resubscribe. I told them I refuse to pay for someones else’s opinions. A news source should provide the facts and let the people find the truth.
That simple, and yet so complex, 5 word sentence from Descartes in 1637 comes to mind(pun intended):
“I think, therefore I am.”
Stretching discussion, Treepers! Thanks to Sundance for the article, and you all for sharing perspectives. Two random thoughts occurred to me as I savoured it all: A wise teacher, now departed this life, once edged me off some fence or other by saying, ” you keep an open mind, and keep it open at both ends!”. And second a genuine question: how do we best fit Jesus being the truth into all this?
When someone declares to you what is “disinformation,” and especially when they censor it and arbitrate what should be featured or censored – of course insisting that they are just trying to “protect” your fragile little mind (poor thing …) – it is THEY who are trying to “disinform you.”
Always consult your suspicious cat who lives in Missouri.
Consider the sources of the information that you are consuming. Trust no one. The rate of liars continuing to be liars is near 100%. Nothing is more appropriate than the old axiom: “Fool me once, shame on you…fool me twice, shame on me.” The ability to sort information into piles is learned, the art of determining truth is built in to your brain…take in all the information that you can and let your brain work out the truth for you…it may not be the same as someone else’s truth. I, for one, trust Sundance and value the information presented on CTH, but I always weigh it against my own opinions and ideas.
Watch it if you can stomach it, soon it will be erased.
On day one of my freshman English class at TU, my Prof stated that he was there to help “teach us How to Think, not What to Think, and with a Liberal Arts study course of English Lit, History, etc., we should develop a Broad Mind, not an open mind.”
An open mind lacks Critical Thinking and can believe anything put into it. A Broad mind allows one to compare and contrast info to arrive at critical thinking, if applied.
I got my $’s worth at Tulane,… back in ’68.
Thank You, Sundance. I have NEVER “accepted” the Mask or its concept… which, to me, was the first step towards the edge of the cliff…. and why it is so very disturbing to observe the large numbers of persons STILL wearing them, which aptly illustrates your main point, that we CANNOT abandon our critical thinking skills, and expect to survive.
You have to start trusting your Instincts–your gut feeling knows how to separate lies/inuendo/misconception/truth, etc.
Don’t disagree and in olden times (when I grew up) it was called common sense and everyone was expected to have it and use it.
Excellent Sundance, thank you.
With increasing frequency I see even conservatives saying they’re going to “stop reading” so-and-so because they don’t agree with a certain angle or point of view, and therefore it must be “misinformation.”
I’m not saying everyone’s worth reading – I’m discriminating, for sure – but just about EVERY informed, thoughtful analyst or reporter has a point of view, and even blind spots. That’s not a reason to abandon them; it’s a reason to read WIDELY and seek to clarify, contextualize, bring a critical lens, always.
and that, my friends, is where we are today.