tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3606640027665464229.post7920226394819234156..comments2023-04-09T03:40:05.147-04:00Comments on Shakespeare Place: WWW (Willy's Worldwide Web): Friend or Foe?JMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08099932219392937069noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3606640027665464229.post-15517451832689594852011-04-21T13:53:27.667-04:002011-04-21T13:53:27.667-04:00May I recommend "Idiot America: How Stupidit...May I recommend "Idiot America: How Stupidity became a Virtue in the Land of the Free: by Charles P. Pierce.<br /><br />His take on this, while aimed mostly at political and religious whackos seems to be relevant in this case.<br />His basic thesis is:<br />Any theory is valid if it sells.<br />Fact is that which enough people believe.<br />Truth is determined by how fervently they believe it.<br />Anything can be true if someone says it loudly enough.Festerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05553729464636228030noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3606640027665464229.post-79012841948099619612010-04-20T12:22:41.782-04:002010-04-20T12:22:41.782-04:00Duane wrote...
"...I could go back and replac...Duane wrote...<br />"...I could go back and replace my opening sentence with "I spotted evidence that a highly evolved race of super-intelligent poultry was in fact responsible for 9/11 and was conspiring to get Sarah Palin into the White House", and the all the rest of the paragraph could still potentially be true."<br /><br />Therein lies the danger. Pairing "potential" truth with anything can automatically "potentially" lend credibility, however small, to even the seemingly outrageous. It's the exact methodology--very popular nowadays-- used to promote an untruth, or, more innocently but "potentially" just as destructive, misinformation, which is a direct conduit to the belief in something that's not true at all. JMJMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08099932219392937069noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3606640027665464229.post-16927141349590247992010-04-16T14:26:33.336-04:002010-04-16T14:26:33.336-04:00How does that saying go, J? A rising tide lifts a...How does that saying go, J? A rising tide lifts all boats, even those piloted by loony birds?<br /><br />I started my blog, truthfully, because I spotted Shakespeare references in the world and had no one to talk about them with. As a computer geek I don't hang with a theatre crowd (not saying the two are incompatible, just that it's not how my circles overlap). Jumping on the net with my voice, however, connected me up to like-minded people all around the world. As a result I've learned more about my subject than I ever would have, and hopefully paid a little of that forward as well.<br /><br />Now, having said that, I could go back and replace my opening sentence with "I spotted evidence that a highly evolved race of super-intelligent poultry was in fact responsible for 9/11 and was conspiring to get Sarah Palin into the White House", and the all the rest of the paragraph could still potentially be true.<br />'<br />I guess I'm not too worried about it. True that the loony theories were not taken as seriously 25 years ago .. but similarly, I'm not sure that 25 years ago any Shakespeare expert would have given me the time of day, without first establishing my academic credentials and what I'd done to earn my opinion on the topic.Duane Morinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16569611828708601563noreply@blogger.com