Are places like this bad for us?

I have been wondering lately.......
Being more "informed" feels great at first, but I am not sure it is good. I have been hanging here and a few other places for about 5 years now, and to be honest, I can't think of a single positive thing that has come from it. Yeah I get news a lot of times here before it hits the idiotbox, but I don't watch the idiotbox much anyways. When I am eating a meal downstairs, that is about the only time these days. I killed all my own TV's, but the old people still want to watch.

The outcome the past few years, I have been more informed sure, but so what? Has it helped any? I have written, emailed, called my "reps", but what good has it done? Every single time they go against my wishes...... I am just an idiot voter, what do I know, right?

Has anyone had a positive improvement in their life from being more aware? I can't think of a single change really, other than writing and calling people that patronize me anyways.

Other than BS that don't seem to matter much in the grand scheme of things, the only changes I have really noticed were not positive at all. Anger, fear, and sadness are probably the top three emotions I get from being more aware. Anger when I think changes are going to happen, but somehow don't like mittens beating Ron Paul. Fear about all kinds of things out there, end of the world, the next WW3 scenario, grabbers coming for the guns.

Sadness that we allow these things to happen in our names still. More sadness than anything else. No matter what country we are from, there is probably something our government is doing that makes us facepalm. Why?

It's 2013, the world didn't end, let's take it back now from the evil ones!

reply to post by TKDRL


Methinks....ignorance can truly be bliss.

I have to take breaks from ATS, else my paranoia goes through the roof.

What we sometimes forget is alot of this stuff is bull poop. There is tons of stuff you wont find anywhere else, but there is also alot of dookie with it.

reply to post by smyleegrl


Yeah, ignoring the rest of the world can be nice sometimes
It's hard to tell when the rest of the world is gonna effect my own world though

The phrase "ignorance is bliss" comes to mind, also all my life i have heard people say that the dumber a person is, the happier they are. Same thing i suppose. I have to admit you have a good point. Too much info just like too much money does not bring happiness.

reply to post by zonetripper2065


Sorting poop from fertilizer is not easy at all

I think too much of anything is bad form.

ATS for example is wonderful, it's amazing, I spend a lot of time here, as do a lot of other people. But it's an isolated community. Much like North Korea, we only discuss the things that are interestign to us, and scoff at the stuff that doesn't.

Which doesn't mean it's true or false, just that we have a preference for our conversations here. I take a step back from ATS a few times a year, even if just for a few days. It gives me time to absorb other things, and then come back with a fresh perspective.

Has anything changed since becoming more aware? More than I could describe in a single post. Let me touch on a few important ones.

1. Writting my reps and government, phone calls, community organizations and being active in my local government have brought tremendous change. No I haven't doen anything by myself to improve the situation, but I was part of the group which helped petition the city to remove fluoride from our water. Which was successfull I might add.

2. I've raised aware children. My kids are fully aware of the world around them, international politics, poverty, injustice etc.. All of these things mean that they'll be more informed and better positioned to make positive changes in their lives once they have the approrpriate ammount of time, understanding and resources to make a difference.

3. I've brought awareness to other people. That's a huge deal. When you take somebody out of their ignorance and replace it with knowledge, than that person will 'pay it forward' to the next ignoramous they hear spouting off some nonsense.

So you see, there are negatives, but there are wonderful positives. Personally I'd rather know about all the horrible things, otherwise how could I make any attempt to better myself or my fellow man?

~Tenth

reply to post by jimmiec


Being deep in the woods, most things don't effect me at all. I feel bad ignoring the rest of the world sometimes, and letting the rest burn down. I just need to find the fine line between having panic attacks, and just saying screw the rest of society.

reply to post by tothetenthpower


I can relate to that! One, seems pretty useless. Two, I never had kids of my own, but I did raise two girls for a few years, and I did my best to teach them what I thought was useful. Three, I also do my best there, but mostly people don't want to hear it. There have been a few gems I came across, but most people are only interested in TV reality shows and sports.

Too much negativity is definitely bad for you. I mean ATS can produce a negative emotional response that will have a negative impact on your health. Ever walked away from ATS feeling stressed out by a debate or run in you have had. I have and have let it get to me, which isn't healthy. It's not always easy just brushing off certain remarks or differences of opinion.

Just have to get involved in subjects that don't cause such emotions and maybe a few off topic forums to lighten your mood.

Ats has introduced me to lots of things I would never have thought or known about before, it's inspired me to question my own beliefs and has made me much more of a skeptic, which I think is a good thing. It's taught me to question the sources of information more and to not trust the media a face value.

There is also a great community here, with some very smart people and some real characters and a few nutters.

Originally posted by TKDRL
reply to post by jimmiec

 

Being deep in the woods, most things don't effect me at all. I feel bad ignoring the rest of the world sometimes, and letting the rest burn down. I just need to find the fine line between having panic attacks, and just saying screw the rest of society.

Im sort of the same.. a foot in each place I had made serious moves to start the process of selling my much loved and worked for home ( a childhood dream to own a historic home of a certain era that I was always drawn to and spend my old age collecting the perfect antique to make it perfect.. which I have and am doing NOW) and doing what I also REALLY want to do also... and go move in the woods in a cabin in the middle of nowhere and be a hermit, raise critters, small scale farm, and DROP OUT.. live in peace with myself. I war with myself often... maybe I should take up drinking...

Any given say.. places like ATS and my own board have a 50/50 of swinging me toward either decision. Damn tug of war. Maybe Ill just put up a big metal fence with concertina wire atop it and pretend Im in the woods while living in my dream house... **call the loony bin NOW**.... and this is sounding like a cool decision.

I came to ATS when one of my long standing friends of over 30 years made a statement about "nut casis GGes" and "traitors" that didn't believe the official 911 story. I hadn't heard about that, so sometime in 2003 I came to ATS to get up to speed on the "controversy" and it intrigued me from time to time. Several years later, during a period of recovery following surgery, I started frequenting ATS - and finally after many months decided to take the plunge and actually become a member so I could participate in the discussion. ATS is GOOD! It's a place we can come to keep a finger on the pulse of "public opinion" - both mainstream and on the fringe.

ganjoa

Knowledge is not power.

Knowledge with action is power.

Just think of all the time you spend here typing, reading, and "researching" that you could be putting towards building something in your life that is important to you.

Let me put it another way.

Don't have enough money in the bank? Delete your ATS account.

reply to post by TKDRL


And without the resources to carry on mass information campaigns all you can do is try to inform. You can't force it down people's throats but if they think about it, even if they dismiss it, you caused them to think.

You need to take your wins where you can.

Lets' look at your OP from another point of view?

Is education bad for children? Shoudl they be thought about math and science and history?! What purpose does it servce in the long term?

See how easily that can be done?

It's the same for adults. Real world education is about being informed about the world around you and doing your best to encourage others to those means you can about.

~Tenth

reply to post by woodwardjnr


I was wondering lately if my panic attacks came from too much doom and gloom. I am not sure though, I think about dieing a lot, especially in the wee hours when I am trying to sleep. I know death is inevitable, but that doesn't do anything to stop the fear. Sometimes late at night I think about ending it all now, so at least there is nothing to fear in the future.

I don't know why it scares me so much, but the first time I remember having the fear, was a movie. I don't remember the movie, but it was an assassin, he killed someone, and the screen went black for a few seconds. That was the first time I thought about death, and that it would be really bad if there was no life after death. Scary as hell. If death is the end, and only blackness follows.

Hmm, maybe it is a bit like a gun."better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it"

reply to post by tothetenthpower


I guess it really depends. How much of what we learn at school do we actually use? For me, it's a bit of english, and some math. Mostly area math, to do measurements. The rest was a waste of brainspace. Well, I use art too, but only for my self gratification for now. History hasn't helped me at all. Science helped me a bit, but only for personal experiments. Home Ec taught me some good stuff, like CPR, changing diapers, cooking basic meals, and sewing. All in all, I could have dropped out at 5th grade and done fine.

reply to post by jimmiec


I learned more of that kind of knowledge from the family I think. I hope one day I will look back and laugh at myself for thinking this way, that all I learned will come to be helpful.

Originally posted by TKDRL



It's 2013, the world didn't end, let's take it back now from the evil ones!

Those that are aware will be deemed the Evil Ones!

There in lies the danger of "places like this"

If anything ATS just shows us we are saner than we believe we are. As a man of science and astronomy (which brought me here in the first place), it shocks me how warped some peoples views are on certain subjects.

Conspiracies to me are like the JFK assassination, wholly possible the Government were behind it, the moon landings, I believe they actually happened, but you can understand the sceptisism.

But then you have 9/11 and chemtrails, things like that, it makes you think that people want conspiracies for the sake of it.

ATS isn't a bad place, it just shows how warped some peoples views can be from right around the world.

ATS has to be the greatest sites there is for all aspects of humanity,