There is a real danger in being lied to by people you should be able to trust. Case in point is the political rag Nature, which long ago was a reputable scientific journal. That is no longer the case. I resent being unable to simply trust what should be the reported facts of science. However, that is the world in which we now live. Another massive example is the continued use of RCP8.5 and its derivatives by the IPCC. Occasionally, Roger Pielke, Jr. has had a clear "swing and a miss" on important issues. However, he has been a consistent voice for scientific integrity and provides valuable data (hurricane strength and frequency, economic losses, etc) that I can trust. We need more people like him.
In "American Scientist" March-April 2025, there is an excellent article entitled "The Manipulative Side of Chatbots and AI" by Federico Fede and Viviana Masai. It explains how Chatbots have been trained to use the same techniques of deceptive language that politicians use. They have been "trained" using the enormous corpus of online material, a large amount of which is intentional misinformation or disinformation. One tactic described is the use of "implicit communication," information that is communicated without stating as such. An allusion is used to convey an underlying agreement that you might not be aware of.
Implicit communication uses presupposition, implication, vagueness, and metaphor. Watch out for change-of-state verbs like "stop, "build," and "remove." For example, "Roger has not stopped smoking." Is Roger therefore still smoking, or was he never a smoker? It's like the old courtroom-question joke "When are you going to stop beating your mother?" Watch out for adverbs like "also," as in "Lucia also bought a bike." Did other people buy a bike, or did Lucia buy a loaf of bread as well as a bike? Presuppositions are powerful because they make it difficult to resist the negative of the statement, without thinking more deeply.
The authors recommend what John recommends, calling it by the different name "epistemic vigilance."
Most chatbots have so far been trained in English, so when asked to compose something in another language, the result is frequently nonsense. For example, the English saying "the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak" might translate into Russian as "the vodka is good but the meat is rotten."
American Scientist is a publication of the Sigma Xi society. Unlike Scientific American, they haven't taken a sharp left turn and fallen over the cliff into wokeville.
As Carolyn Dweck, Ph.D., Stanford says, "intelligence is developable." In short with a classical curriculum, which teaches an appreciation for Western Civilization, while teaching a student HOW to think not WHAT to think, a student is developing the skills desperately needed today
John ==> Dr. Pielke Jr.'s view is a bit odd -- but it has some validity from a strictly "legal and policy" viewpoint. In fact, he encourages such action....attack at the legislative end and the policy end.
His opinion is that CO2, even if it represents the smallest risk (I think he used 0.001% risk or some such) still falls under the legal requirement that EPA regulate it. Which I think is idiotic, but is strictlly "word of law" true.
From a pragmatic point of view, he freely admits that if "we" don't like the Endangerment Finding, then Congress must/can change the law and exclude CO2 from the GHGs to be regulated.
“It's a proven strategy that instilling fear is an extremely effective methodology in getting people to be willing to bypass critical thinking and to voluntarily give up their democratic rights.”
You’ve nailed it John! Literally and figuratively speaking, you nailed it! Today, nearly 5 years later, I am still wondering why, so many people still wear masks? Why?
I stopped my car last week simply to ask this young lady “why are you wearing a mask outside walking down the street?”
Her answer was “F-YOU! Throws me the middle finger and continues on her way. Well I wasn’t done trying to understand why. So I slowly creeped alongside as she walked and very nicely said to her,
“I don’t know if you know something I don’t know and was concerned if maybe I too, should be wearing a mask?”
She replied with the same
“F-YOU, leave me the F-alone!”
I drove off before I enraged her anymore. Still I’m curious about this mentality. Still, I am not sure if this “proven-strategy” has literally reached so deep within the minds of many people that they don’t even realize what they’re saying or doing anymore.
A curious observer might say, “who cares?” Unfortunately this is exactly how we got into this situation in the first place. Nobody seems to care if people lie to them or scare the living daylights out of them anymore.
As a society we have lost our ability to “think-critically.” This, in and of itself will continue to perpetuate if, as a society we continue to allow those who lie to continue lying.
The “weeds of lies” have transformed society into a “non-caring-F-YOU” society of me, me, me first. Such a dangerous place we’re spiraling down and into this intolerable mental state.
Thank you John for always sharing and “sparking a fire” which needs to be contained.
“The wicked flee when no one pursues…” Proverbs 28:1
I truly believe that deep in their subconscious, these deceived folks know they are wrong, and that’s why they are running from the truth! That is why she avoided you. Instinctive, given her delusional state of mind.
I have to agree with you Bellatrix. Something has happened to people‘s minds.
Certainly it’s been proven the mRNA “Bioweapon Transfection-Injections” has and still is causing a myriad of health issues, disabling millions of people worldwide.
Aside from the many millions killed by this “DoD-OWS” military operation / attack, we’re still seeing increased levels of casualties and disability among civilians around the world.
Thank you Bellatrix for sharing your thoughts on this topic. Many thanks to you.
Thank you for replying! We are definitely in a political, intellectual, and a spiritual battle. I pray for God’s truth to be revealed to these poor souls, they are so blinded. And as you mentioned, their hostility makes them so difficult to approach. Oh, how I pray, they see the love of the Lord and our concern for their well-being!
It is quite sad Bellatrix. So sad that they don’t even know what they are doing. I too pray for all of humanity and especially those who have been so “captured” by these “evil-forces!”
You’re welcome for my reply Bellatrix. As I said earlier, it’s more important than ever that we all help each other.
There is a real danger in being lied to by people you should be able to trust. Case in point is the political rag Nature, which long ago was a reputable scientific journal. That is no longer the case. I resent being unable to simply trust what should be the reported facts of science. However, that is the world in which we now live. Another massive example is the continued use of RCP8.5 and its derivatives by the IPCC. Occasionally, Roger Pielke, Jr. has had a clear "swing and a miss" on important issues. However, he has been a consistent voice for scientific integrity and provides valuable data (hurricane strength and frequency, economic losses, etc) that I can trust. We need more people like him.
Patrick: Indeed Roger, jr has occasionally been a voice of reason. This is all the more reason why it is hard to fathom how he can be so wrong here.
In "American Scientist" March-April 2025, there is an excellent article entitled "The Manipulative Side of Chatbots and AI" by Federico Fede and Viviana Masai. It explains how Chatbots have been trained to use the same techniques of deceptive language that politicians use. They have been "trained" using the enormous corpus of online material, a large amount of which is intentional misinformation or disinformation. One tactic described is the use of "implicit communication," information that is communicated without stating as such. An allusion is used to convey an underlying agreement that you might not be aware of.
Implicit communication uses presupposition, implication, vagueness, and metaphor. Watch out for change-of-state verbs like "stop, "build," and "remove." For example, "Roger has not stopped smoking." Is Roger therefore still smoking, or was he never a smoker? It's like the old courtroom-question joke "When are you going to stop beating your mother?" Watch out for adverbs like "also," as in "Lucia also bought a bike." Did other people buy a bike, or did Lucia buy a loaf of bread as well as a bike? Presuppositions are powerful because they make it difficult to resist the negative of the statement, without thinking more deeply.
The authors recommend what John recommends, calling it by the different name "epistemic vigilance."
Most chatbots have so far been trained in English, so when asked to compose something in another language, the result is frequently nonsense. For example, the English saying "the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak" might translate into Russian as "the vodka is good but the meat is rotten."
American Scientist is a publication of the Sigma Xi society. Unlike Scientific American, they haven't taken a sharp left turn and fallen over the cliff into wokeville.
Van: TY for that. I agree that word manipulation will become extremely significant — all the more important that we be Critical Thinkers...
As Carolyn Dweck, Ph.D., Stanford says, "intelligence is developable." In short with a classical curriculum, which teaches an appreciation for Western Civilization, while teaching a student HOW to think not WHAT to think, a student is developing the skills desperately needed today
Marty McCarthy
Rev Marty: Agreed that Intelligence is developable.
John ==> Dr. Pielke Jr.'s view is a bit odd -- but it has some validity from a strictly "legal and policy" viewpoint. In fact, he encourages such action....attack at the legislative end and the policy end.
His opinion is that CO2, even if it represents the smallest risk (I think he used 0.001% risk or some such) still falls under the legal requirement that EPA regulate it. Which I think is idiotic, but is strictlly "word of law" true.
From a pragmatic point of view, he freely admits that if "we" don't like the Endangerment Finding, then Congress must/can change the law and exclude CO2 from the GHGs to be regulated.
I think he is dead-wrong.
Kip: Agreed on all points
“It's a proven strategy that instilling fear is an extremely effective methodology in getting people to be willing to bypass critical thinking and to voluntarily give up their democratic rights.”
You’ve nailed it John! Literally and figuratively speaking, you nailed it! Today, nearly 5 years later, I am still wondering why, so many people still wear masks? Why?
I stopped my car last week simply to ask this young lady “why are you wearing a mask outside walking down the street?”
Her answer was “F-YOU! Throws me the middle finger and continues on her way. Well I wasn’t done trying to understand why. So I slowly creeped alongside as she walked and very nicely said to her,
“I don’t know if you know something I don’t know and was concerned if maybe I too, should be wearing a mask?”
She replied with the same
“F-YOU, leave me the F-alone!”
I drove off before I enraged her anymore. Still I’m curious about this mentality. Still, I am not sure if this “proven-strategy” has literally reached so deep within the minds of many people that they don’t even realize what they’re saying or doing anymore.
A curious observer might say, “who cares?” Unfortunately this is exactly how we got into this situation in the first place. Nobody seems to care if people lie to them or scare the living daylights out of them anymore.
As a society we have lost our ability to “think-critically.” This, in and of itself will continue to perpetuate if, as a society we continue to allow those who lie to continue lying.
The “weeds of lies” have transformed society into a “non-caring-F-YOU” society of me, me, me first. Such a dangerous place we’re spiraling down and into this intolerable mental state.
Thank you John for always sharing and “sparking a fire” which needs to be contained.
AJR
“The wicked flee when no one pursues…” Proverbs 28:1
I truly believe that deep in their subconscious, these deceived folks know they are wrong, and that’s why they are running from the truth! That is why she avoided you. Instinctive, given her delusional state of mind.
I have to agree with you Bellatrix. Something has happened to people‘s minds.
Certainly it’s been proven the mRNA “Bioweapon Transfection-Injections” has and still is causing a myriad of health issues, disabling millions of people worldwide.
Aside from the many millions killed by this “DoD-OWS” military operation / attack, we’re still seeing increased levels of casualties and disability among civilians around the world.
Thank you Bellatrix for sharing your thoughts on this topic. Many thanks to you.
AJR
Thank you for replying! We are definitely in a political, intellectual, and a spiritual battle. I pray for God’s truth to be revealed to these poor souls, they are so blinded. And as you mentioned, their hostility makes them so difficult to approach. Oh, how I pray, they see the love of the Lord and our concern for their well-being!
It is quite sad Bellatrix. So sad that they don’t even know what they are doing. I too pray for all of humanity and especially those who have been so “captured” by these “evil-forces!”
You’re welcome for my reply Bellatrix. As I said earlier, it’s more important than ever that we all help each other.
AJR
AJR: TY for that. Yes, it is interesting to often find that the non-Critical Thinkers are the most aggressive defenders of their positions...
Exactly John. You’re quite welcome and thank you for providing such needed, most valuable and important discussions.
AJR