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The concept of 'fake news' was invented to bring power back into the hands of large media companies and the corporations which control them by discrediting all

The concept of 'fake news' was invented to bring power back into the hands of large media companies and the corporations which control them by discrediting all alternative news sources. I don't believe in fake news or conspiracy theories, but I do read conspiracy media and articles from 'fake news' outlets because it helps to get perspective. There is definitely a grain of truth in many conspiracy theories and 'fake news' articles... And unfortunately this grain of truth is often never mentioned at all on mainstream media. For example, some scientists found that covid-19 shared some non-trivial segment of RNA with the HIV virus. This is a fact but mainstream media does not mention it at all because they don't want to invite conspiracy theories that the virus could be man-made. Of course they could mention this and also add that this particular RNA sequence is also shared by many other viruses and not just HIV. But mainstream media will avoid the topic entirely because of political and financial pressures. They prefer to turn any scientist who mentions this fact into a social pariah rather than admit that there is an element of truth to it and that it could deserve further scrutiny. Also, mainstream media would never dare to point out just how grotesquely massive the recent bailouts by the Federal Reserve Bank of the United States are. The amount of fiat dollars which will be injected into the economy is so alarming that even the billionaire fund manager Ray Dalio hinted that it would usher in a "new world order" (in an economic sense) but the gravity of the situation is not conveyed at all by the mainstream media. Consuming conspiracy and 'fake news' media is mind-opening if you consume it in small quantities alongside mainstream media. If you hate how divisive the world has become, then it's your moral duty to expose yourself to the other side's perspective. Mainstream media is becoming complacent and just like 'fake news' media, it's loaded with political and economic agendas. The only way to see past the agendas is to consume both.

knzhou 7y ago
> For example, some scientists found that covid-19 shared some non-trivial segment of RNA with the HIV virus. This is "zombie information" and a perfect example of the kind of nonsense that should be stopped. The single paper this came from was thoroughly debunked by a hundred real scientists the day it was posted. (It used statistical criteria so loose that it could have said any virus was related to HIV.) The paper had never passed peer review, and was retracted by the authors from the preprint server it was posted on the next day. You are part of the problem.
- cryptica 7y ago
  French Nobel prize winning scientist Luc Montagnier who discovered HIV also made similar claims. https://www.gulftoday.ae/lifestyle/2020/04/19/french-nobel-prize-winning-scientist-luc-montagnier-claims-covid-19-virus-originated-in-lab https://www.gulftoday.ae/lifestyle/2020/04/19/french-nobel-p... Sounds like you didn't hear about that. If the discoverer of HIV tells you that covid-19 contains segments of HIV RNA and says that he believes that it is man-made, it absolutely deserves more scrutiny even if it turns out not to be true. The media should embrace uncertainty instead of pretending to know all the answers. This is the problem with US media, there is no truth; only one extreme lie or its opposite which is also a lie. French and British media cover all possibilities and leave room doubt - This is healthy. This close mindedness is exactly what I'm talking about and why we need some fake news in our lives.
megous 7y ago
> This is a fact but mainstream media does not mention it at all because they don't want to invite conspiracy theories that the virus could be man-made. Your statement is false. I searched my scraped database of local mainstream news an there were several articles mentioning coronavirus/HIV and a few dicussing the link of the two and/or describing the supposed conspiracy.

knzhou 7y ago

> For example, some scientists found that covid-19 shared some non-trivial segment of RNA with the HIV virus. This is "zombie information" and a perfect example of the kind of nonsense that should be stopped. The single paper this came from was thoroughly debunked by a hundred real scientists the day it was posted. (It used statistical criteria so loose that it could have said any virus was related to HIV.) The paper had never passed peer review, and was retracted by the authors from the preprint server it was posted on the next day. You are part of the problem.

cryptica 7y ago
French Nobel prize winning scientist Luc Montagnier who discovered HIV also made similar claims. https://www.gulftoday.ae/lifestyle/2020/04/19/french-nobel-prize-winning-scientist-luc-montagnier-claims-covid-19-virus-originated-in-lab https://www.gulftoday.ae/lifestyle/2020/04/19/french-nobel-p... Sounds like you didn't hear about that. If the discoverer of HIV tells you that covid-19 contains segments of HIV RNA and says that he believes that it is man-made, it absolutely deserves more scrutiny even if it turns out not to be true. The media should embrace uncertainty instead of pretending to know all the answers. This is the problem with US media, there is no truth; only one extreme lie or its opposite which is also a lie. French and British media cover all possibilities and leave room doubt - This is healthy. This close mindedness is exactly what I'm talking about and why we need some fake news in our lives.

megous 7y ago

> This is a fact but mainstream media does not mention it at all because they don't want to invite conspiracy theories that the virus could be man-made. Your statement is false. I searched my scraped database of local mainstream news an there were several articles mentioning coronavirus/HIV and a few dicussing the link of the two and/or describing the supposed conspiracy.