I laugh about it, because what other fucking choice do I have, but it’s pretty upsetting. I mean we all instantly knew that a not-insignificant percentage of people were going to immediately reject reality on this. After a fucking skyscraper-sized boat hit a bridge and it collapsed. On video. With a very clear sequence of events and advance warning. As I’ve mentioned, my kid is working as a research assistant (proud father note - in his freshman year) on a project related to conspiracy theories. He was losing his mind yesterday.
I don’t know man, I guess our ape brains were just not ready for social media / the information glut. Or something. It’s sincerely depressing.
Contrary to what a lot of people think, I am continually amazed that large bridges work at all. I travel under the GW Bridge on my way to work and the double decker roadway is so large and heavy you can barely make out the semi trucks suspended over the river a half mile from any support. Really surprised that half of us are scared of our own shadow and so few people are uncomfortable driving over these things.
What amazes ne is the age of some of these massive bridges. The Ben Franklin Bridge connecting Philadelphia to NJ was constructed starting in 1922. And they had the foresight to make it 7 lanes plus two train tracks and two sidewalks. The longest span is almost 1800 feet. Just a massive build for something started 100 years ago.
The danger for me is that I think it’s making me care less about reality and truth. Like, if there’s no longer an objective measure, why should I care? I think the opposite is true, I should care more, but if I’m feeling that way I have to imagine others are as well.
That’s the real point of the deluge of bullsiht, it makes everyone too cynical to function, there’s so disinfo that it obscures actually reliable sources. People think everyone is bullshitting all the time so why listen to reporters, scientists, experts, etc, instead of Joe Rogan?
the sheer amount of disinfo is the point… it’s that karl rove strategy on a scale even he didnt anticipate, there is WAY too much misinformation and lies to take the time to debunk so good people just eventually give up.
Politics never comes up - we just have fun, but I could kind of tell based on some of their interests which way they leaned. Then the bridge thing happened.
Oh, I forgot to add that the person in my Discord who didn’t believe the bridge collapse was an accident said it was “like the Titanic thing.” After I asked her what she was talking about, she clarified the billionaire sub to see the Titanic.
I said, “How in the WORLD is it like that?”
She doesn’t think those guys are dead. So I guess they are alike in that they were staged or something. To his credit, the third guy said, “Yeah, they’re chilling on an island with Kobe and Tupac.”
People like this live in such a weird reality. What motivation would the Titanic sub guys have to fake their own deaths? Do any of their families know they’re still alive, and are just keeping it secret?
It just takes such a low grasp of basic logic, human nature, how the world works, how the media works, etc. These people live in a world of fairy tales and magic and have zero appreciation for the people who believe in reality that make it all possible.
I feel like even if you’ve ever had a job at a large company you would have to realize how impossible it is to keep a secret among a bunch of people.
