Value of Exchange

Deny ignorance is what we do.

That one sentence caught my attention. I won't claim that I am some kind of smarty pants but I do have the ability to think and recognize things that just don't add up. I was having a bad week. Discussions of what the federal government had up its sleeve coupled with the excuses for bad behaviors and the many fallacies brought me to googling "ignorance." ATS was one of the many results.

After reading some of the threads and trying my hand at offering my side of different situations or my brass opinions of some topics, I decided to become a member. I did not join to keep my fingers busy. Most often, I just read, gathering as many different points of view as I can manage in an effort to question information that is being shoved into my mind from other sources. For the first few months, I got alot of good information. I even began remembering my favorite contributors and would often seek out their posts and threads.

Unfortunately, a couple of the discussions I attempted to take part in became charged with emotion and I was drawn in to defending who I am that had nothing to do with exchanging valuable knowledge. Threads grew not in value but in number of invaluable posts. I took a very long break from the site. The health insurance thread drew me back and I stumbled upon something of greater interest.

I applaud the efforts made by the site owner to remind all who enter what this site is for and I just wanted to put my two cents in. I read many of the contributions in the original "I'm Pissed" thread, some I agreed wholeheartedly with, some not so much. The amazing discovery I made was which contributors went from exchanging knowledge to exchanging emotion.

Knowledge is the path to deny ignorance and emotion is the tool to hang onto a threatened belief. I saw the word "troll" in several threads and many interpretations of what "trolling" is. Can I just say that regardless of how trolling is defined, insults are insults and a user that must resort to this type of behavior consistently has opened the door for questioning.

I may not post things that others can believe; some of my evidence may be lacking, and some of my opinions are a bit on the arrogant side, but I do not think this warrants a personal attack on my character or my intelligence. I would not go to the extreme of recommending this site be super controlled because some opinions and beliefs are extraordinary topics to explore and some users may be not so informed on one topic but have a wealth of knowledge to tap on another.

I am confident that everyone has something valuable to offer and I hope that each person remembers what this site is for: educating people like me. I like to see two sides of the argument so I can make my own choice on what to believe. I think I have had far too many people deciding for me what I should and should not learn. Isn't that the purpose of this site; to deny ignorance?

We have some real problems going on in the world today and they are being covered up. That is the reason I joined this site, to see what other people who think like me has to offer. We have several sources of potential conspiracies that are already having a devastating effect. I know it is not just government, religion, or any other single source, it is the several people behind these masks. What are some of the issues being offered as a smoke screen and what is the real issue at hand? Who can be named as the people behind the schemes? And how do we expose and stop these individuals from squeezing the life out of us? That is what I want to learn.

Well said, and I applaud your candor.

But if I may impose, what precisely motivated you to post this on the Political US Madness forum? I am not being facetious (in case it seems an obtuse question.)

What you speak of seems hardly political, although purists may claim that everything is political, or a conspiracy of some kind.

reply to post by Maxmars


To be honest, I didn't know how to start a thread and I have so much to say but I am most concerned about the idea of government like censorship that some contributors are suggesting for this site. The problems that need to be aired do tend to cause emotional reactions but to use too many criteria for censorship only accomplishes the one thing I thought this site was against: ignorance.

I began the post with how I got here, what I noticed, and what I am looking for. The value of exchange is offering different opinions, hopefully supporting with evidence, but more importantly, exchanging what we know and what we think we know about the government and the so-called leaders. That is where I tried to go with my thread but I got nervous with the character limit and I am afraid it may not make sense to anyone but me. This is what I wanted to say:

The government is a huge source of wrong doings that need to be discussed but more importantly who in government is the source of wrong that must be exposed. I want to start comparing notes on these elected officials and hopefully figure out who is doing what but more importantly how to nip the scheme in the bud.

I understand the desire to keep political posts on topic but to censor the information being exchanged only contributes to ignorance. Just look at the media coverage of the economy and the government and corporate roles in the collapse... there is no media finger pointing toward the government sponsored acts of corporations contributing to the collapse of the economy, high medical costs, out of control credit, etc. The government has a hand in everyone's pie. I want to learn who these individual elected officials are and figure out what the big picture is.

Wow, a great thread. Admittedly, I am guilty of some of your flagrant observations/violations. While ATS can often be a collaborative source for learning, a minority of posters utilize it as part of their anger management regiment.

I really like your assessment of "Exchanging Emotion vs. Exchanging Knowledge." Perhaps it is human nature to desire to engage in a group pity party. Misery loves company. I too go through lapses of non posting, but much to the chagrins of many, always come back.

Nice thread. Your voice is heard and opinion valuable.



[edit on 1-3-2010 by kinda kurious]

reply to post by peggy m


It is a BIG PICTURE to which you refer.

While I suspect no one thread, investigation, or exercise will answer all the questions, I understand your quest.

We will help as best we are able. Censorship is not part of our operational paradigm here.

We simply seek to lift ourselves above the theatrics and low-class ranting that often accompanies the partisan debate.

Your biggest obstacle is the reality that people will sometimes refuse to accept evidence, consider the hypothetical, or cling to the warm fuzzies of their political glee-club to the exclusion of reasonable debate.

The process of filtering out what is true, and what is real, will continue as long as we keep at it. Never say die.