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Oz is like most places, there's a large number of people for whom thinking for themselves from an even vaguely informed position presents too much of a logistic
by contingencies 2y ago
Oz is like most places, there's a large number of people for whom thinking for themselves from an even vaguely informed position presents too much of a logistical challenge (re. literacy, education, breadth of interest, pretense to regular reading, range of sources, adequate life experience to judge bias, ready echo chamber availability, swamp of familiarity, etc.). The minority of people who are educated, do hold broad enough interests and are capable of critical thinking are almost all in support of Wikileaks, IMHO. Some of them have been done in by the smear campaign, unfortunately.
- lazyeye 2y ago[flagged]
- contingencies 2y agoNaturally. I'd suggest that - not in a hard-line way but in a soft centrism kinda way - there's certainly a core set of moral perspectives that one can really hold with any critical integrity, if really living with any awareness of one's surroundings, and many thinking people tend to converge on that set of morals through some avenue or other, and that tends to drive their take on the world above inane factors like nationalism and religion. It's not a superior or single view per se, but it's probably a set of closely aligned views tempered by a greater breadth of thinking in terms of not being totally stuck in an isolate ghetto spacetime wallow / populist moshpit.
- lazyeye 2y agoYes I also think that everyone that disagrees with me is stupid and easily manipulated.... (not smart like me). Just expressing it in a few less words...
- contingencies 2y agoSo just to be clear: let's have a constructive discussion on the internet by assuming bad faith. Let me know how that goes for you. I'll stick to assuming ignorance, and await evidence to the contrary.
- lazyeye 2y agoWhen people make such wide-sweeping generalisations as you have, whilst flattering yourself at the same time, I dont immediately assume good faith. But as you say, I must be ignorant then (not smart and heroic like you).
- contingencies 2y agoCorrect. You're a fast learner.
- lazyeye 2y agoYep.
- corimaith 2y agoPeople are only capable of informed decisions in their specific area of expertise. Outside of that the difference in opinion between a university educated and a working class is irrelevant. When the people whose specific jobs and lives revolve around the topic have a contrary opinion you should probably take more seriously. Those who don't and elevate their opinions are what we call cranks.
- mistermann 2y agoWhat is your area of expertise that facilitates knowing the truth of all of your claims here today?
- contingencies 2y agoThe entire earth is affected by Assange's revelations, and the legal wranglings thereafter. It is unclear which specific subset to which you refer, but I don't think their opinion is any more valid than others'. Further, perhaps it is unwise to place much faith in the relevance of formal education to matters of complex political and technical insight deeply mired in populist information warfare and wiser to consider education level to be generally quite independent of formal training in most cases?