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It’s extraordinary that people are taken in by such videos. Those videos are selectively edited to make the creators point. Tell me, when Jimmy Kimmels produce

It’s extraordinary that people are taken in by such videos. Those videos are selectively edited to make the creators point. Tell me, when Jimmy Kimmels producers go out on Hollywood Boulevard and find that not even one person can point to a country other than America on map (https://youtu.be/kRh1zXFKC_o https://youtu.be/kRh1zXFKC_o) - do you think that’s real too? Or is that selectively edited for laughs?

jedberg 4y ago
I know the video was edited, it's by PragerU. That's not the point though, it was just a story to point out that not all things about other cultures are offensive. And it's funny you ask about Kimmel, because I actually know the person who did those bits (she was the offscreen voice for the first few years and is actually the interviewer in this video). She said that while it was edited, they didn't have to edit it much, because about 80% of the people really were that dumb.
- Bakary 4y ago
  There is a bias in that we see such videos, find them shareable, notice their existence but really there's absolutely no reason to use either the Kimmel or PragerU vid as anything other than light entertainment. That doesn't mean the underlying argument they propose can't be defended, just that the videos have no explanatory power whatsoever.
- afiori 4y ago
  > 80% of the people really were that dumb. Dropping in just to point out that ignorant, dumb, and uninterested are different concepts.
afiori 4y ago
Everytime you hear someone tell their story you get an editorialized view (at the very least by having chosen to listen to them rather than someone else). Those videos are clearly optimized toward the desired impression, but I don't think that they used actors to make their points. On the other hand you have problems like https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/05/12/weak-men-are-superweapons/ https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/05/12/weak-men-are-superweap... where you can construct a castle of lies and deception by only speaking selective truths... To summarize my point: stories are ways to tell one of the many facets of the human experience, when told honestly they can be helpful to our understanding of both the common and the uncommon, when told dishonestly they can warp our perception of reality.

jedberg 4y ago

I know the video was edited, it's by PragerU. That's not the point though, it was just a story to point out that not all things about other cultures are offensive. And it's funny you ask about Kimmel, because I actually know the person who did those bits (she was the offscreen voice for the first few years and is actually the interviewer in this video). She said that while it was edited, they didn't have to edit it much, because about 80% of the people really were that dumb.

Bakary 4y ago
There is a bias in that we see such videos, find them shareable, notice their existence but really there's absolutely no reason to use either the Kimmel or PragerU vid as anything other than light entertainment. That doesn't mean the underlying argument they propose can't be defended, just that the videos have no explanatory power whatsoever.
afiori 4y ago
> 80% of the people really were that dumb. Dropping in just to point out that ignorant, dumb, and uninterested are different concepts.

afiori 4y ago

Everytime you hear someone tell their story you get an editorialized view (at the very least by having chosen to listen to them rather than someone else). Those videos are clearly optimized toward the desired impression, but I don't think that they used actors to make their points. On the other hand you have problems like https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/05/12/weak-men-are-superweapons/ https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/05/12/weak-men-are-superweap... where you can construct a castle of lies and deception by only speaking selective truths... To summarize my point: stories are ways to tell one of the many facets of the human experience, when told honestly they can be helpful to our understanding of both the common and the uncommon, when told dishonestly they can warp our perception of reality.