Does the media accurately present Information and can it be trusted?

 (My answer on Quora).

No. The reason is that a great deal of the media is driven by the preferred narrative rather than the truth. They are also impacted by the maxim of being ‘first to publish’. Unfortunately it is becoming more evident with each passing moment that people would rather have their biases confirmed than challenged and this is what the stories cater to.

In addition ideology has corrupted a great of the reporting with many journalists seeing themselves as makers of the news rather than reporters of it. In short post-Truth tends to dominate which is why we see a litany of stories that were rushed to press, filtered through an outrage industry only to come crashing down once the dust of clarity had settled.

If you don’t believe me….check these out!!

Here is a list of 20 stories that broke the other way, in contrast to the original predominant media narrative, once the issues were flushed out.

1. Kyle Rittenhouse shootings

2. The Covington Kids

3. Jussie Smollett’s MAGA Attack

4. The Michael Brown narrative.

5. The Jacob Blake shooting

6. The Kavanaugh charges

7. No crisis at the border

8. The Border patrol using whips on illegal immigrants

9. The Duke Lacrosse rape allegations

10. Bubba Wallace’s Noose charge

12. The Steele's Dossier + the entire broader narrative of Trump Russia Collusion

13. Bill Barr not telling the truth about Mueller Report

14. Hillary Clinton will win overwhelmingly in 2016

15. The Killing of Muhammad al-Durrah

16. The Credibility of Michael Avenatti

17. The notion that the Taliban won't take Kabul

18. A successful US drone strike killing ISIS operatives in Afghanistan (August 2021)

19. Andrew Cuomo's successful handling of the COVID-19 Pandemic in New York.

20. Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq.

So what is the solution to all of this now that trust has been tossed under the oncoming train?

Try this seven step mechanism for making sense of a story in a Post Truth world.

1. Hold back on making judgement for any issue until more of the evidence is available

2. Go back to the source material instead of relying on secondary or tertiary descriptors.

3. Train yourself to recognize narratives. Watch out for journalists who editorialize.

4. Flip paradigms. Ask yourself if the shoe was on the other foot would you still feel/think that way?

5. Train yourself to separate fact from feeling. Remember that the truth is more important than your own preconceived bias and your specific ideology.

6. Familiarize yourself with the other side of the argument.

7. Always entertain the notion that you could be wrong.

Yes…this requires work and patience. However at the end of the day your soul will thank you.

What does Gibbs Free Energy measure?

 (My answer on Quora).

Gibb’s Free Energy (delta G) measures the maximum amount of reversible work that can be extracted from a system. The caveat though is that the system has to be at constant temperature and pressure (or volume). It must also be a closed system (that is one that does not exchange matter although it can exchange heat and work)

Gibb’s Energy (also known as available energy) is given by the symbol G and is named after the American chemist Josiah Gibbs. The unit of G (like all energies) is Joules (J).

When a system is in chemical equilibrium G is minimized. Delta G becomes zero which implies that no spontaneous energy can be extracted from the system at this pressure and temperature.

What mistakes did Napoleon make in the Russian campaign?

(My answer on Quora)

The negative outcome of the Russian campaign in 1812 was a function of several key errors, misjudgements and logistical factors that would ultimately prove to be deleterious for the Grande Armée. Much of this by virtue of the chain of command, points back to Napoleon and significant failures of planning and necessary anticipation.

These factors were:

1. The wholesale underestimation of Russian resistance and the competency of their Field Marshal Mikhail Kutuzov (a master of the war of attrition).
2. Russian Dirt Roads. They proved to be a nightmare for French transportation and supply lines who at the best of times were overextended.
3. The Russian Scorched Earth policy which took a heavy toll on an army that historically marches on its stomach.
4. The Grande Armée was ill-equipped for the Cold winter (by French standards). Bivouac shelters used by the soldiers were ineffective. Oddly enough the Russians considered this a mild winter.
5. The Russians kept robbing the French of decisive victories by skillful retreat. They also used guerilla warfare and Cossack hit and run techniques to wear down the French.
6. Disease - namely diphtheria, dysentery and typhus - this spread rapidly through the French army and proved difficult to control.

What are some examples of political gaslighting?

(My answer on Quora)

Gaslighting is a colloquialism that is defined as making someone question their own reality. The term is also used informally to describe someone who persistently puts forth a false narrative which leads another person to doubt their own perceptions. (Wikipedia).

The term originates from the 1944 movie Gaslight but has found its way into the social sciences as well as politics. It is a useful but odious device for shutting down debate.

Source: Blackburn center

Answers here on Quora are deliberately littered with gaslighting responses that serve to advance a specific point of view while cynically negating all alternatives in the cheapest way possible. Gaslighting answers are anti-intellectual and anathema to the elucidation of the truth.

Here are five examples that I have come across routinely on Quora. These are often repeated by some of Quora’s popular writers to great fanfare.

1.Critical Race Theory is a legal framework and is therefore not taught in schools.

Reality:

This is a classic example of using the No True Scotmen fallacy in a gaslighting context. At one point we were told by those in the know that there is nothing to worry about with respect to CRT. Now apparently it has only a very narrow range of applicability. Which one is it?

Why are states banning critical race theory?

It's important to understand what critical race theory is and is not.

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2021/07/02/why-are-states-banning-critical-race-theory/

The truth is that the version of critical race theory that is taught in schools is a modified form of the overarching legal theory. It has been specifically adapted for school age teaching and re-branded by the more benign phrase Anti-Racism Pedagogy. By necessity it lacks the intellectual sophistication of the parent theory but is still framed in the same language of systemic injustice and the problematic whiteness of institutional structures (aka white supremacy culture).

It is predicated on a divisiveness that has substituted race for class. This concern that is further heightened by the fact that it is presented as moral dogma to a captive audience.

Yes the United States has a troubled history (as does virtually every country on this planet) but there are far better ways of teaching the nation’s political and cultural legacy than pushing it uncritically through a deliberately highlighted ideological narrative that has been poisoned from the get go.

Reading, Writing, and Racism: the NEA’s Campaign to Gaslight Parents | National Review

American moms and dads now know that forcing critical race theory onto children is a priority for teachers’ unions.

https://www.nationalreview.com/2021/07/reading-writing-and-racism-the-neas-campaign-to-gaslight-parents/

Anti-Racist Pedagogy Resources

Teaching/Learning Anti-Racism: A Developmental Approach  Authors: Louise Derman-Sparks and Carol Brunson Phillips Drawing on experience teaching a college course, this book explains the process that evolves as teachers and students grapple with learning about racism and becoming antiracist. Racism is defined as an institutionalized system of economic, political, social,… Read More

https://tlc.missouri.edu/anti-racist-pedagogy-resources/

2. Political Correctness is not a reality but a necessary request for people to be polite and not so mean.

Reality: The emergence of cancel culture, big tech censorship, speech codes and constraints on dogma eviscerate this attempt at gaslighting. Only the most naive partisan or deliberate grifter would make the case that the ability to speak freely about difficult topics hasn’t been put through the meat grinder of the political lens.

Political Correctness is a neologism that represents the cumulative efforts to restrict the level of discourse to narrowly defined parameters predetermined by so-called acceptable ideology. The Will to Power plays a key role. If one frames the debate within ‘acceptable’ parameters then tough-to-deal with inconveniences magically disappear. One can then target the heretics which seems to be the purpose of those who use euphemisms to hide their actual intent.

Source: Cato Institute

Source: Los Angeles Times

3. Questioning the Scientific consensus is equivalent to science denial.

Reality: Science is not an ideology. It a broad method of examining claims through empirical investigation and then drawing conclusion that have predictive value. It uses the framework of mathematics and statistics to analyze the evidence thereby opening up further avenues of investigation to test deeper claims. In this regard it has been very successful.

However when the practitioners of science become dogmatic and political in their outlook to the point that they transform the practice of science into a milieu dominated by groupthink.

The willful neglect of contrary evidence and the elevation of the power dynamic of credentialism then takes precedence and science crosses over into the realm of the ideology of scientism.

This invariably results in stagnant thinking, the formation of a closed secular priesthood/authority and the sacrifice of the rigorous scientific methodology to preordained conclusions.

Questioning such a tainted groupthink becomes the moral obligation of all who value necessary skepticism and free inquiry. Science remember is ultimately about understanding the physical reality. It is certainly not a popularity contest. No single person is the Science. Period.

Source: Syracuse.com

4. That story is false as it was first reported in media outlet X. X is a …………………(insert pejorative) media outlet.

Reality: A story either has merit, some merit or no merit. This is determined by examining the claims that the story itself makes . Yes some publications have more of a history of carrying meritless stories but this does not detract from the critical analysis that should be applied to the story alone.

Using the perceived bias of the reporting site as a substitute for the rigor required in dismissal or acceptance is a cheap and self serving slight of hand. It also has a history of being littered with folly. Remember Walter Duranty…

Stalin's Apologist: Walter Duranty: The New York Times's Man in Moscow

Stalin's Apologist: Walter Duranty: The New York Times's Man in Moscow

https://www.amazon.ca/Stalins-Apologist-Walter-Duranty-Timess/dp/0195057007

5. There are doctored pictures out there showing Chinese ill-treatment of the Uyghurs. Therefore the Chinese government is not guilty of human rights abuses in this context. The Western Media is deliberately trying to defame China.

Reality: This line is a favorite among supporters of the CCP, 50 Cent army and their fellow travelers. Yes there are some doctored pictures out there as is the case with other human rights abuses.

This however does not diminish the reality fact that the Uyghurs have indeed suffered abuse at the hands of Beijing’s authoritarian regime. Numerous human right sites have reported on this. In addition stories of Uyghur persecution have appeared on media outlets on both sides of the political spectrum. These are the same outlets that are normally at each other’s throat on a variety of issues. To assume that all of these outlets act as one on this particular issue is both ridiculous and insulting to the victims of such abuse. It also reflects a certain degree of projection from the situation that exists in China where the central authority does indeed control the media message with minimal push back.

'Their goal is to destroy everyone': Uighur camp detainees allege systematic rape

In new testimony, former detainees of China's detention camps describe systematic rape and torture.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-55794071

China’s Uyghurs living in a ‘dystopian hellscape’, says Amnesty report

Widespread internment, torture and rights abuses have been claimed by former detainees as Beijing continues a policy of denial

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/jun/10/china-uyghur-xinjiang-dystopian-hellscape-says-amnesty-international-report

China’s Horrifying War on Uighur Women | National Review

New evidence shows that the CCP has been systematically targeting Uighurs in a draconian birth-control campaign. The U.S. must respond forcefully.

https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/09/chinas-horrifying-war-on-uyghur-women/

Now one could add more stories to the catalog of political and social gaslighting. Clearly this approach has efficacy in swinging opinions to favor a specific narrative. For lazy thinkers it provides a quick fix for the Confirmation Bias sub-routine.

For those interested in a deeper debate it is best to relegate such mind games to the effluent stream of zero information rhetoric and let it marinate there.

Why is Scotland not good in Sports?

 (My answer on Quora)

It is important to gain perspective here. Scotland only has a population of five million or so souls. It is a small nation. Taking this into account they have done rather well in several sports.

Scottish tennis player Andy Murray is regularly ranked just behind Djokovic, Federer and Nadal as the greatest tennis player of his generation. Murray has two Wimbledons, two Olympic golds and one US Open to his credit. Unfortunately his career has been hampered by injury. In all likelihood he would have won a few more slams.

In football/soccer Scotland has produced world class players in Kenny Dalglish, Dennis Law, Graeme Souness, Alan Hansen, John Grieg, Jim Baxter and Archie Gemmill. Scottish managers have often set the standard in British football boasting such luminaries as Alex Ferguson, Matt Busby, Bill Shankly and Jock Stein.

While it is true that the Scots haven’t qualified for the knockout stage of a World Cup finals tournament. They did carry the torch for the British Isles in World Cups 74 and 78 when the English failed to qualify. It was also a Scottish club, Glasgow Celtic in 1967, that became the first British team to win the European Cup - the forerunner to the Champions League.

In Formula One racing Jackie Stewart and Jim Clark - both multiple driver’s championship winners - were Scots. While the Rugby game can boast of such Scottish legends as Andy Irvine, Chris Paterson, David Sole and Gavin Hastings.

Of note as well is the exploits of 100m sprinter Alan Wells who took Gold at the event in the Moscow Olympics in 1980.

On the golfing stage the Scots have produced such notables as Sandy Lyle, Paul Lawrie, Bernard Gallacher and Colin Montgomerie.

In Boxing the names Ken Buchanan, Peter Keenan and now Josh Taylor have all made Scotland proud.

Not bad…for a nation that has less people than Massachusetts.

Why was Jan Hus convicted of heresy?

 (My answer on Quora)

The Czech Jan Hus was one of the early church theologians who was associated with the Bohemian Reformation and the Hussite Movement (named after him). He lived between 1372 and 1415 and was the predecessor to later Protestant reformers - Luther, Calvin and Zwingli.

His main heresy from the perspective of Rome was that he spoke out against Pope Alexander V and the Antipope John XXIII over the selling of indulgences. For his troubles he was excommunicated, exiled, then asked to recant (which he refused), imprisoned and then burnt at the stake. His famous line was "I would not for a chapel of gold retreat from the truth!".

After his death pro and anti-Hussite factions (largely championed by the Catholic Church) would clash in what became known as the Hussite Wars (1420–1431) with the followers of Huss eventually growing to become a majority in Bohemia and Moravia.

Hus was also critical of other aspects of the Catholic church including ecclesiology and the Eucharist.

Old Left vs the Modern Left

 Times have changed. Tells you more about who is running the institutions today and therefore who demands subservience.

Photon Scattering

(Based on my Quora Answer)

A photon is a particle and it doesn’t have mass. It does however have momentum (p).

Source: Hyperphysics

This is shown in the diagram above of Compton Scattering. The collision of the photon with an electron at rest increases the wavelength of the scattered photon and provides the electron with momentum (shown with relativistic correction). Photons have energy that is proportional to its frequency. This energy of a photon can be calculated by multiplying the frequency (v…Greek symbol nu) by Planck’s constant (h).

The momentum of a photon can be calculated by dividing this Energy by c (speed of light in a vacuum).

Remember photons travel at c in a vacuum. Nothing that can travel at c has mass.

In modern physics you don’t need mass to have momentum. In classical physics you do.