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INSIDER’S VIEW: CHAN CULTURE/GAMERS AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO MASS HYSTERIA It is human nature to seek culpability in times of tragedy, however, as the Turkish proverb says, “He who gets up in anger, sits back with loss.” In recent news, I was quite surprised to see the topic that had been discussed during the 1990s and which was basically concluded in 2008 but being fetched back up again in 2019. Namely, do video games cause violent behavior? Now, however, there is a specific internet subculture thrown into the mix. While the topic of video games causing violence is debunked many times, something new has been introduced into the mix. In the past few years, a specific website/s has been thrown around: 4chan or 8chan. You might have heard of these websites as “being associated with the mass shooters in recent and past incidents.” We will discuss to see if they are indeed the ones to blame, or is it just another attempt, especially by media and politicians, to shift the blame to protect or line up their pockets.  For those not familiar with 4chan, it is a website that emerged during the early 2000s, and is characterized by its loose moderation “a site where anyone can speak anonymously.” In time, more control was instituted when literal crimes were being committed on some of their boards. However, the idea that anyone can say whatever they want and start discussing in their threads and share images, turned into a cesspool — the meme treasure trove of the internet. 4chan had always been the counterculture; when being right-wing was hip, they were extreme left, and when being left became hip, they became extreme right, and to the level where to some people, Hitler is revered, the holocaust is denied, and quasi facts and very strong propaganda is spread; it is perhaps the largest social experiment of our time in anarchy. As for 8chan, it was created as a response to what they have seen as tyrannical censorship, and consequently, a lot of 4chan users migrated to 8chan. 8chan’s selling point was that every board would be moderated by their group of people not affiliated with any organization unless the people who registered the board elected to. This of course ended up being completely ‘wild west’ of actual discourse, and on multiple occasions, some of the boards had to be shut down due to criminal activity.  Having said that, it is also a place where I have seen the funniest internet cultural artifacts being born, the said criminals being brought to justice, not by an external authority, but by 8chan members themselves, not to mention the freest, and at times, quite influential movements in the making. In conclusion, these places should be allowed to exist in moderation, if not, they will continue to exist in underground systems, and we would not be able to monitor them. If we are to control and eliminate these deplorable ideologies, we must do so in the form of debate first and foremost not censorship, not violence. After all, ideas are supposed to be bulletproof, but nothing is fact-proof. Read More From This Writer All Post Books Business Culture Education Entertainment Food Government Health Interviews Lower West Side Business & Economic Development Medical Military & Veterans Our Community Peace People Sports Who We Are INSIDER’S VIEW: CHAN CULTURE/GAMERS AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO MASS HYSTERIA September 13, 2019/No CommentsRead More INDOCTRINATION (Part II) August 13, 2019/No Comments INDOCTRINATION (Part II) Last month we talked about “what is Indoctrination” and how to detect it as well as some Read More INDOCTRINATION July 13, 2019/No Comments INDOCTRINATION As a follow-up on our political concepts, this week I would like to talk about a word we rarely Read More Load More End of Content.

INDOCTRINATION (Part II) Last month we talked about “what is Indoctrination” and how to detect it as well as some basic methods of de-indoctrinating ourselves. I think it is worth expanding on that topic. I should also mention; that a lot of this information comes from Yuri Bezmenov’s (*) lectures whose conclusions I do not always agree with for the human mind is a lot more complex, and his conclusions apply to extreme cases which are sadly a sizable group. The methods that I will suggest are to help those who have been basing their world views on the ideas created through very intelligent, seemingly benevolent, however, fundamentally malicious purposes. Mind you, while Bezmenov’s lectures in the 80s were about the communist ideology, the very same methods are being used for both extremes today. The methods being used are more refined, but the way of disarming them remains the same because it is disinformation and reformation of the human mind. However, what has been twisted and broken can be fixed, the human mind is quite resilient like that. If there is a will, there is a way. Firstly, something that can benefit anyone, is how to protect ourselves against indoctrination. A quick recap of this topic in a way. The best defense is remaining rational. Never invest emotionally into an idea, no matter how right it seems. If you see the evidence against what you thought was true, take that evidence and gather more until you can say, “Yes this fact was incorrect” otherwise just 1 or 2 cases should make you say, yes there are exceptions to the rule. Find out why those exceptions occur; is it due to a fundamental flaw in your view, or is it something rare and bizarre? Even in programming, we often have to resort to exception handlers as such be ready to accept that, that is what it means to be of open-mind and foot firm on the ground. Reality is complex and fundamentally incomprehensible to current the human mind, there will be flaws and some we must accept. Secondly, ask yourself, Qui Bono? – or for whose benefit? If there is a pattern, be suspicious. Always be skeptical of everything, however, trust axioms and fundamental evidence. The combination of healthy skepticism and methods of finding more for yourself should safeguard you against most methods. For more insidious methods and short hands against misinformation is knowing these tactics that will make you go “that’s a trap” Now that we have talked about sound barriers to our minds, let’s talk about those whose lives have been impacted, usually negatively, by propaganda and how can we help them. It is very little we can do but always encourage them to look at the facts. A lot of such people are sadly too far gone and just must wake up themselves. In family counseling, the most important lesson I’ve learned was, never try to help those who do not want to be helped. If you try, they will just repel and reject you, best-case scenario, you wasted your time. For those who are still open-minded, remind them that the world is shades of gray and is not black and white. The things we think are good or evil – are never so. (*) Yuri Alexandrovich Bezmenov, journalist, known by the alias Tomas David Schuman, was a Soviet journalist for RIA Novosti and a former PGU KGB informant who defected to Canada. Read More From This Writer All Post Books Business Culture Education Entertainment Food Government Health Interviews Lower West Side Business & Economic Development Medical Military & Veterans Our Community Peace People Sports Who We Are INDOCTRINATION (Part II) August 13, 2019/No CommentsRead More INDOCTRINATION July 13, 2019/No Comments INDOCTRINATION As a follow-up on our political concepts, this week I would like to talk about a word we rarely Read More STAYING CLOSED TO THE TRUTH June 13, 2019/No Comments “The man who never looks into a newspaper is better informed than he who reads them “ — Thomas Jefferson Read More Load More End of Content.