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Why on earth would anyone “trust” the media or any other group. That’s like believing Facebook has your best interest in mind. Figure out what a group wants t

Why on earth would anyone “trust” the media or any other group. That’s like believing Facebook has your best interest in mind. Figure out what a group wants to understand how they are spinning story.

krastanov 5y ago
It is more about having a slightly more sophisticated and realistic view of the world than a binary "they are good/bad". Everyone has biases, everyone is frequently imprecise in "something", and everything is political, but that does not mean you should distrust everyone and assume they are malicious/incompetent.
- vageli 5y ago
  > It is more about having a slightly more sophisticated and realistic view of the world than a binary "they are good/bad" That was not my take on treeman's comment. They didn't say distrust everyone, but that motives are usually far from altruistic and more selfish in nature. That people have selfish reasons for doing what they do is worth recognizing. A corporation offering you something most likely does not have your best interests in mind, but their bottom line.
r3trohack3r 5y ago
A similar take: Don’t get your updates on X from someone trying to sell you some version of X. Get it from someone who has to explain X before selling you on Y.
- cutemonster 5y ago
  Maybe also, someone who sells you Y, but none of unrelated M,N,O,P,Q,R -- if she is nevertheless familiar with those, you could ask her about those
salawat 5y ago
I just want to point out that adults in my life did a terrible job of explaining "spin" and perception management to me until I was well into my 20's. People mentioned that sort of thing, or it was mentioned in novels and I always assumed they meant those tabloids in the supermarket, and that the "real media" were a cut above, because on the surface, they A) seemed to report on a truth, B)seemed to at least be willing to go on the record to correct errors. After all, at that point I paid more attention to what people said, and did not quite grasp the whole "communication through not saying" thing. I'm spending a great deal of time figuring out how to make a game of "spot the hidden subtext" with kiddos. Just to make them hellions down the road.

krastanov 5y ago

It is more about having a slightly more sophisticated and realistic view of the world than a binary "they are good/bad". Everyone has biases, everyone is frequently imprecise in "something", and everything is political, but that does not mean you should distrust everyone and assume they are malicious/incompetent.

vageli 5y ago
> It is more about having a slightly more sophisticated and realistic view of the world than a binary "they are good/bad" That was not my take on treeman's comment. They didn't say distrust everyone, but that motives are usually far from altruistic and more selfish in nature. That people have selfish reasons for doing what they do is worth recognizing. A corporation offering you something most likely does not have your best interests in mind, but their bottom line.

r3trohack3r 5y ago

A similar take: Don’t get your updates on X from someone trying to sell you some version of X. Get it from someone who has to explain X before selling you on Y.

cutemonster 5y ago
Maybe also, someone who sells you Y, but none of unrelated M,N,O,P,Q,R -- if she is nevertheless familiar with those, you could ask her about those

salawat 5y ago

I just want to point out that adults in my life did a terrible job of explaining "spin" and perception management to me until I was well into my 20's. People mentioned that sort of thing, or it was mentioned in novels and I always assumed they meant those tabloids in the supermarket, and that the "real media" were a cut above, because on the surface, they A) seemed to report on a truth, B)seemed to at least be willing to go on the record to correct errors. After all, at that point I paid more attention to what people said, and did not quite grasp the whole "communication through not saying" thing. I'm spending a great deal of time figuring out how to make a game of "spot the hidden subtext" with kiddos. Just to make them hellions down the road.