Invasion of the Lazy Mind

My rant stems from far too many posts that seem to be following a pattern lately. I call it the Lazy Mind. There seems to be a growing population of these Lazy Mind people on ATS. Post after post, there are knee-jerk reaction comments made about a posted story snippet that are in stark contridiction to the overall story itself.

The trigger for my rant came after the recent post about a US Soldier Arrested for explosives at an airport. I challenge you to read the story and then read the comments. It infuriates me to see people start rattling off as if to quote facts that are completely the opposite of the story. The comments are triggered by the headline and quoted text, taken completely out of context and then regurgitated as conclusion.

ATS is about investigation, truth seeking, conspiracy, theory, sharing and debate. However, it seems lately that ATS is becoming more about Pop Culture headlines with uninformed reactionary commentary and useless vulgarity. Where have the days gone when intelligent debate on thoroughly researched topics was the norm?

ATS used to look beyond the veil to see what was going on behind the scenes. Now, all we see are headlines ripped from the mass media distraction crews and Johnny One Note blogs. Often times they are called out, but not before a lethal injection of the Lazy Mind is given.

Another thing that particularly bothers me about this is that these people are representing themselves in the real world as knowledgable. These same people who come here only to be the first to comment on a topic, rather than take time to read more than once source on the topic before posting something intelligent are spawning. It seems that there is some race to be on page 1 so that your comments wont disappear on page 3.

The sayings "think twice, speak once" and "better to be quiet and thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt" both apply not only to addressing people vocally, but also in the digital world. People sometimes forget, but what happens on the net, stays on the net forever.

unfortunately, as with any social media wherein the populace is afforded a certain degree of anonymity, a segment of the population will resort to rash, crass or brash behavior. it is our human immaturity on full display.

ATS is also a hub of controversial notions, with opinions that span the spectrum, so toss in some fiercely held convictions into the mix, and things can get all shades of ignorant in here.

however... that being said, i have also found in my years lurking a whole host of intelligent, articulate, thorough, heartfelt and dare i say wise voices... many of whom, whose opinions i may not even agree with!

my mind has been challenged and expanded, more than it has been corrupted and polluted, and that is why i return.

alas... one must weed through the trolls to find the occasional prince (or princess). ATS has its healthy share of both.

reply to post by wheresthetruth

hi op
"think twice, speak once"
i thought for ten minutes lol
i must admit that when i first joined i put some silly replies which i cringe about now
but nowadays i like to think that i and many other members do contribute a lot of time and effort
to put a thread together and show sources
i i think quite a few members on here can smell the bs of some threads and lack of cross sourceing.
regards
dave

While I often respond with short posts, it is not because of a lazy mind. On the contrary, my mind is overworked by work and taking in volumes of information here every day.

I keep my answers short because if I allow myself to go on, they will turn into long winded rants and further wear out my stressed little brain.

I have to agree in general. However, that thread may not be the best example. It seems to me that that particular poster just loves to lay a trap by taking a contrary view and waiting for someone to take a big bite--and then he's all over them. It's just, just a tiny bit shy of trolling, in my view. (I've considered asking him outright whether that's true; not that I'd expect a straight answer.)

But let me emphasize that I generally agree. I see it all the time too, but it just never wound me up enough to say anything....

ETA: Oops. I have to modify my post. I read through that thread again, and now I see what you mean.

I have a theory. I think GLP had a mass banning to get rid of a lot of these lazy thinkers--and if that was their intention I applaud it; if it was something less admirable I abhor it (how's that for having it both ways?). I think what happened was that they came here en masse and are now polluting our air, so to speak. I state this as a theory because I've never frequented that site, but I do remember seeing a number of newer members claiming they got banned "for no reason."

I was a little concerned that I might be of the silent minority here. I am glad to see that I am not.
I dont want to see any sort of "BanHammers Gone Wild" around here. My greatest concern is for the people. Spreading half-truth based on little or no research, or outright lie, is a very dangerous thing in this world gone mad.

reply to post by mythos


Mythos, I agree with you on many points. I too have found over the years a host of challenging posts and it has taught me to be careful what I post as fact. There was also someone there to catch my mistakes and call me on them. It seems less dominated by those thinkers of late.

reply to post by davesmart


Dave, I have been down that road. In a way, I can see how an impulsive new member might get caught up and even swept away by the vast amount of information to sift through here and I grant that it might cause them to be less inclined to be more thoughtful in their posts. I was in the beginning a bit nieve and have learned from the senior members here. It just seems to be happening more and more lately.

reply to post by Glass


Glass, a short, thought out statement speaks more volume than paragraphs of unrelated or ignorant statements. The rule is two sentences or more. Some people dont even need that much space to enhance a debate.

reply to post by Ex_CT2


Ex, I vaguely remember something about that GLP cleanse being mentioned. I never really spent much time on their forums. When I found and joined ATS, I had been to several smaller areas and they were really not worth much time. ATS proved itself the place for me. I have heard more negative than positive about the members of GLP, so I never went there more than just to find out what the hoopla was all about. It wasnt worth hanging around for. You probably have stumbled on the very source of my ire and lead me to the light.