Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Disbeliever

All my life, from childhood to the present, I have been disparaged as a "nonbeliever". I would rather be labeled a "disbeliever" however, since that is closer to what I really am.

A non-believer is someone who believes nothing. That is probably not possible for a human brain. The brain will tilt one way or the other, regardless of any truth in that direction or not. A disbeliever is someone who chooses to NOT believe in something that is being forced down their throat. That is me.

In many of my posts I've blithered endlessly about theories of various kinds and it is unlikely that any further blithering is necessary. Suffice that there are plenty of scientifically proven subjects which, if studied closely, are very difficult to disprove. Yet there are many people who disbelieve them. They choose to NOT believe things which are already proven beyond any doubt.

I am not like that. I will not kick a brick, because I know that my toe is less substantial than the brick. No amount of "disbelief" in bricks will change that fact. My disbelief is in things offered as opinion.

Ad hominem attacks are the most common form of propaganda. It is very easy to destroy someone's reputation by the copious use of slander. Given any name, whichever side of any "belief" that person falls into, some kind of belittlement can be used in the hopes of changing someone's opinion of them.

I will not use any example, because that is exactly what is so slimy about the subject -- the example cannot be made in the abstract. It can only be made in such a way to disparage someone.

So, my attack is on the use of propaganda itself. To use riches to buy up as many channels of information broadcast as possible and then blither on about whatever political crap or religious drivel -- that is what is despicable. So, if you do this, you know who you are and what you are.

But why am I a disbeliever? Because, other than kicking bricks and other physically provable situations, there is nothing which can be trusted. There are so many liars, marketing pukes, political slanderers and reputation destroyers out there that the residual "believable" information is too tiny to notice. It doesn't matter what "ism" you push, you are just a pusher -- like a drug pusher.

Someone might point at this article as an example of disparagement, and they would be right. It is very difficult to write anything meta-political without stepping on somebody's toes. But I don't mind stepping on the toes of frauds, thieves or other kinds of crooks. And, unfortunately, that is the most common form of propagandist out there.

What about religion? Is that not a "non-evil" form of propaganda? In some ways I agree with that. Certainly the pleadings for people to discard their selfish, pompous ways and live their lives according to some standard values for the greater good -- can't be bad. I think religions get kind of out of control, though. Some wind up just being another kind of greedy corporate entity, with an endless supply of suckers to bilk. So, I "disbelieve" in religion just the same as the rest.

Am I not then "throwing the baby out with the bathwater?" Not entirely, because I still believe in the reality of physics. Solipsism is not exactly my bag. I think reality happens to me, I don't create reality as I go along. There is no opinion, such as saying that "materialism is so nerdy", that can disparage my belief that kicking bricks will hurt my toe. So I do not extend "disbelief" to obvious, measurable phenomena.

Does this mean I "don't believe in aliens?" Well, that is a bit difficult to swallow without actually being confronted by a real, nuts-and-bolts alien. But the "possibility" of aliens is still fairly high, somewhere out there in the vast numbers of stars. But believing in aliens and believing in doctrines of opinion are completely separate things. It is far more likely that both Democrats and Republicans are equally polluted by corporate influence than "aliens are visiting the Earth."


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