Re: NASA on 2012 crap - excellent

[Dan White <dwhite () olp net>]

On 17/11/09 14:49 -0500, Larry Seltzer wrote:
> > > > >
> http://astrobiology.nasa.gov/ask-an-astrobiologist/intro/nibiru-and-doom
> sday-2012-questions-and-answers
> > > Really nice writeup.  Too bad the people who *need* to read it won't.
>
> The world's full of people who believe in Bigfoot and that God created
> the universe in 6 days (and then went down the shore for a day). Just 10
> years ago many people believed the world would go to hell because of
> date bugs in software.
>
> Is there really any more belief in 2012 than the usual crackpot
> elements? Why would anyone stupid enough to believe it be persuaded by
> anything written by NASA?

I think there exists now, more than ever, bubble environments online for
people to re-enforce their instinct and belief systems.

For example, my mother-in-law finds no end of material to print out for me
about how medicine is bad, vitamins are better, and vaccines cause X.

The same is true for someone who wants to believe any political or disaster
conspiracy under, and including, the moon.

There are books and websites who will tell you that the world will end in
2012. If you are the type to entertain such a thought, then spending a
weekend online will only reenforce it.

Perhaps I haven't been paying as much attention in years past, but it seems
like there are depressingly stronger pockets of political belief systems
that support each other.

My hope is that it's just the result of new groups of people coming online and
finding more efficient means of spreading their messages, and not a
widespread change in our collective ability to be skeptical of stupid
ideas.

-- 
Dan White
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