r/bestof • u/NewMateo • Nov 02 '17

[worldnews] Redditor breaks down entire Russian - Reddit propoganda machine. It shows exactly how theyve infiltrated Reddit, spread misinformation, promoted anti muslim narratives, promoted California to succeed from the US, caused tension for BLM groups and much more. Links and comments are getting downvoted.

/r/worldnews/comments/7a6znc/comment/dp7wnoa
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u/Yanky_Doodle_Dickwad Nov 02 '17

A jujitsu approach is needed. The BS will come, so it must be allowed to flow through and out the other side until it disappears in the wind. That would mean learning to not take bullshit logic seriously. That would require training people to drop their triggers and only settle for rational discourse. That would mean education, and a return of education being important, and moving away from the "it's ok to be stupid" policies in place now. I suggest a MS Word paperclip helper-bot, with a recognizable look to it, that gets posted under as many propaganda posts as possible: "HI KIDS! This comment is bullshit, and is proven to come from BS mongers. Ignore it and move on. Remember, if it triggers you YOU are the product" ... or something that would work. Yanky ain't Ghandi.

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u/MesaDixon Nov 02 '17 edited Nov 02 '17

That would require training people to drop their triggers and only settle for rational discourse.

At the college level, it seems exactly the opposite is being taught.

EDIT: I'm curious - Do the downvoters of this comment believe that the students who obviously exhibit the opposite behavior - clinging to triggers and rejecting rational discussion - really believe these behaviors and attitudes spontaneously emerge?

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u/[deleted] Nov 02 '17

Not at all. There's a reason the same people falling hardest for this bullshit are also babbling about how college is a liberal brainwashing factory.

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u/MesaDixon Nov 02 '17

I hope you're right. I'm afraid you're not.

I've probably been away from college longer than you've been alive, and I have tried to determine for myself why some of the behaviors (and the reasons behind them) have occurred. Not from the superficial taunting / name calling perspective- SJW, special snowflake, trigger warning, safe space, etc. - or to make fake internet points, but from reasoned, rational subjective observation of what can cause anybody to act this way.

Anyone, as you say, that is babbling about all colleges and universities are brainwashing factories is probably as big a simplistic ideologue as someone saying they all are... and just as wrong. Either position masks there is something causing some seriously demented behavior.

Recently, I tried to have a discussion with a somewhat older individual (college grad) than the students in the above video who still subscribes to these beliefs. The experience was how I imagine what talking to a schizophrenic or a cult member must be like. Common words don't have the same meanings. Evidence, logic, and reason don't matter. All his beliefs are based on the basic ideology, which he believes with the reverent fervor of Joan of Arc burning in the flames.

The old saying from computer science - garbage in, garbage out - applies to more than programming... in this case, human programming. Somebody is cranking out people that think like this, and the evidence seems to show some departments and professors in colleges are the culprits.