This whole incident has started to cement something for me (hang with me, I'm working this out as I go):
News is not knowledge. News is a thin layer that rests atop the mountain of our experience and knowledge.
This is why some people can't understand why we didn't just shoot down the second WTC plane while it's pretty obvious to me. This is why people blame religion or, conversely, discount completely the role of religion in this sort of event.
People who are news addicted tend to know what happened but lack a very basic understanding of why. I have seen a lot of these people lately, and I've experienced a lot of frustration trying to point out seemingly obvious mistakes in their logic.
Maybe, then, we need news reporting closer to that of the BBC or newspapers, where at least some depth is included (of course, at the cost of speed). Maybe we just need a better educational system -- hell, I took college-level philosophy classes without reading a page of Locke or Descartes, psych with no Freud of Jung, history without Gibbon.
Basically, that's exactly it. I had one of out semi-intelligent guys arguing that they can fly above mach 1, so they had to have been able to get there.
I just pointed out that you had to add reaction time from chain of command, scrambling time, target aquisition, etc.
News vs. Knowledge (Score:2)
News is not knowledge. News is a thin layer that rests atop the mountain of our experience and knowledge.
This is why some people can't understand why we didn't just shoot down the second WTC plane while it's pretty obvious to me. This is why people blame religion or, conversely, discount completely the role of religion in this sort of event.
People who are news addicted tend to know what happened but lack a very basic understanding of why. I have seen a lot of these people lately, and I've experienced a lot of frustration trying to point out seemingly obvious mistakes in their logic.
Maybe, then, we need news reporting closer to that of the BBC or newspapers, where at least some depth is included (of course, at the cost of speed). Maybe we just need a better educational system -- hell, I took college-level philosophy classes without reading a page of Locke or Descartes, psych with no Freud of Jung, history without Gibbon.
Maybe I'm ranting -- it's late and I'm tired.
Re:News vs. Knowledge (Score:1)
Re:News vs. Knowledge (Score:2)
I just pointed out that you had to add reaction time from chain of command, scrambling time, target aquisition, etc.
Re:News vs. Knowledge (Score:2)
CBS reported that fighters were scrambled, but were 70 miles away when the second plane hit.
Re:News vs. Knowledge (Score:1)
Certainly some news is heresay or opinions. Other news consists of hard facts. And facts ARE knowledge.