(September 1, 2014 at 7:44 am)mralstoner Wrote:(September 1, 2014 at 6:06 am)ManMachine Wrote: It might help you to understand modern media a little better if you looked into something called editorial bias and sensationalism.Thanks, but I'm way too old for naivety. I've been following politics and world affairs for about 15 years now. Europe has an existential problem with Muslim immigration. You can wake up to it, or go back to sleep. Most people stay asleep due to normalcy bias:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normalcy_bias
"The normalcy bias, or normality bias, refers to a mental state people enter when facing a disaster. It causes people to underestimate both the possibility of a disaster occurring and its possible effects. This may results in situations where people fail to adequately prepare for a disaster..."
But actually, deep down, a lot of people do understand the problems facing the West, it's just that the problems are so huge and seemingly insolvable, they just put them aside and carry on.
I'm not aware of any links between naivety and age, older people seem just as naïve as younger people on certain topics.
I accept that there are cultural problems but it's not a 'disaster', that is exactly the kind of sensationalist language that needs to be avoided in these debates. The juxtaposition of two cultures will inevitably cause misunderstanding and friction. A knee-jerk reaction is not the right way to go about things.
The kind of rhetoric you employ ('you can wake up to it or go back to sleep') is not going to agitate me into developing an uninformed opinion just to satisfy my petty prejudices, which I'm honest enough to acknowledge and own, and is why I make the extra effort to inform myself lest I make crass statements.
The only crisis Europe is facing is from sensationalists with no grasp of statistics trying to make mountains out of molehills.
10 Myths about Muslims
I'm no expert on population demographic or trends but admitting that is the first step to educating myself properly on the issue.
MM
"The greatest deception men suffer is from their own opinions" - Leonardo da Vinci
"I think I use the term “radical” rather loosely, just for emphasis. If you describe yourself as “atheist,” some people will say, “Don’t you mean ‘agnostic’?” I have to reply that I really do mean atheist, I really do not believe that there is a god; in fact, I am convinced that there is not a god (a subtle difference). I see not a shred of evidence to suggest that there is one ... etc., etc. It’s easier to say that I am a radical atheist, just to signal that I really mean it, have thought about it a great deal, and that it’s an opinion I hold seriously." - Douglas Adams (and I echo the sentiment)
"I think I use the term “radical” rather loosely, just for emphasis. If you describe yourself as “atheist,” some people will say, “Don’t you mean ‘agnostic’?” I have to reply that I really do mean atheist, I really do not believe that there is a god; in fact, I am convinced that there is not a god (a subtle difference). I see not a shred of evidence to suggest that there is one ... etc., etc. It’s easier to say that I am a radical atheist, just to signal that I really mean it, have thought about it a great deal, and that it’s an opinion I hold seriously." - Douglas Adams (and I echo the sentiment)
