Have you changed since you've come to ATS?

I haven't changed philosophically, but I don't read the newspaper as often and I almost never use MSM for the news.

Also, I haven't been here long but chances are my name is on a "list" or two that I wasn't on before coming here.

a reply to: Stormdancer777

Me too. Now i have zero trust. And that's the way I like it.

Although, I do wish I was able to have a little more trust. But as it stands, I don't want to trust any of them.

a reply to: SonoftheSun

I took two years. Tried to reintegrate back into the flip side. Couldn't do it. I will still take a few days here and there. After further reading through the thread I see other members brought up trust issues. Most definitely... I trust nobody,no matter how sincere. I'm quite upset about that because it's not everyone who deserves my skepticism. It's just the evolution of a defense mechanism,for lack of a better way to justify it.

The answer is yes, I've changed. I've become more disgusted with people who don't understand grammar and with conspiracy types who make absolutely no attempt to apply logic.

a reply to: onequestion

Have you changed since you've come to ATS?

Changed no, treated somewhat unfair with my opinions/questions...yes.

I have had 2 warnings that I felt strongly were not of merit. The only thing I can think of is that my comment was taken out of context* or I didn't make myself clear or detail my meaning or intent. At the same time they were my views, questions and/or opinion to which I felt was perfectly normal.
1. One question I asked to a special guest and I firmly believe the MOD had no idea about the policy of this man's org* and just flagged it. Since I was a huge fan of this guest I knew his rules/policies and was asking if they had changed since modern meds had advanced. I believe the MOD read that as if I was asking openly about drugs or making a mockery(?)...which is really sad. I am a very long time member of the guests org and this was the perfect time to ask questions, especially about older policies in a modern world.

2. I had a different view from the bandwagon on a religious thread. Now I avoid all these threads. heh

Side note: I believe the mod who flagged me thought my question violated ATS policy, which is fair enough(?)

a reply to: onequestion

To me, I have kind of ...... both liked and disliked the fact I'm awake. Sometimes I wish I wasn't and could return to the 'the government has my best interests at heart, yay' frame of mind. Once you see how things are going, you get overwhelmed. That's what this site is, overwhelming. You feel so angry, so upset, so helpless yet you know you want to do something, but what, when and how? Seems no matter what people do to try to make things better, it's stopped.

As a person, I find myself questioning more. I don't take things at face value as much any more unless I'm darned certain in what's going on. I need to know the whys and hows and so on more than I used to. I don't know a lot about everything, but I try. I find myself still hopeful that things will get better. I won't allow the bad of the world to kill my optimism for myself or my fellow human beings. I feel something has to give, though war has been around since time began, there has to be more people who want peace and such. Somehow, some way, good has to prevail.

a reply to: paraphi

It is particularly worrying that people seem to hold on to YouTube as a source of knowledge and research.

I don't see a problem with that really...

What blows my mind is the fact that so many here quote, cite, and actually BELIEVE the MSM, Wikipedia, and all the rest of the other propaganda filled sources we all know and love.

THAT is one of the greatest mysteries I have EVER seen here on ATS.

originally posted by: Murgatroid
a reply to: paraphi

It is particularly worrying that people seem to hold on to YouTube as a source of knowledge and research.

I don't see a problem with that really...

What blows my mind is the fact that so many here quote, cite, and actually BELIEVE the MSM, Wikipedia, and all the rest of the other propaganda filled sources we all know and love.

THAT is one of the greatest mysteries I have EVER seen here on ATS.

If not articles, reports, media, all the other propaganda filled sources (which is subject to interpretation because you don't define which ones you consider them to be), or scientists (if you consider them propaganda as many do) then what do you suggest one cite?

Blogs?

Youtube? (since you said that's not so bad)

Hearsay?

Twitter?

Books? (written by an opinionated person, as every person has opinions)

History? (see above)

I'm just asking because I wonder what you consider a reliable source. Are there any?

Yes, I've changed.
Some good. Some not so much.
This is an ongoing process.
Honestly, I cannot imagine my life without all the ideas and stories I've come across on ATS.
Sometimes I feel like I've just traded one vice for another though. I can't help but feel like we are not supposed to be sitting in front of a screen having these revelations and dealing with the skepticism, shock and joy that comes from it, but that we are supposed to go out and DO something and be with people and learn all of this and find all these truths in the real world.
ATS is too easy. Sometimes you leave the screen feeling like you did something important...but you didn't.

originally posted by: AthlonSavage
a reply to: Destinyone

I've learned to make and wear, high fashion tin foil hats.... - See more at:

Are you joking or not?

No joking, that is a pic of me in one of my tin foil hat creations. Without being on ATS I would have never been exposed to the idea of even making one. Nor sharing in the fun of exploring making one with other fun loving people.

I've answered the OPs' question in previous threads asking similar questions. In this one, I chose to go the light-hearted path in my answer.

Yes, I've been changed by exposure to ATS. I've grown more flexible in how I viewed some ideas, and more firmly entrenched in others. I've learned not to sit in the back of the room, expecting someone else to eventually speak what I'm thinking, for me.

The tin foil hats...just a hell of a lot of fun To jump in feet first, having fun with the universal symbol of what the non-conspiracy crowd thinks of us.

Des

I have changed. I am over 10 years older. I used to lurk at ATS before joining back in 2004. There were not nearly as many people and many posts were done very well I thought back then. The range of topics has really expanded a great deal and the crowd of people here is a lot more diverse now I believe.

I was a bit skeptical back then, a bit paranoid as well and in that regard, I haven't changed much.
I read and heard things usually aren't as bad as you fear but they are almost never as good as you hope either.
Someone usually has an agenda or someone never wants a crisis go to waste. When I was younger I used to be naive enough to believe everything I heard on the evening news. After being on ATS long enough, that quickly changed and I realized many in power have agendas to manipulate the opinions of others for one reason or another. If you understand their point of view or agenda and how they may be trying or actually fooling others, you may catch a glimpse of the truth. There are often hidden interests protecting or promoting certain agendas or interests. Groups that cross their paths face their wrath. I didn't always consider ulterior motives behind some agendas.

I now find great entertainment in the "news" and other MSM outlets.

I have become a little more wise and aware of the world around me and no longer live in my very own bubble.

a reply to: onequestion

I have realised how many people know that there is something wrong with the world. Ok, I don't agree with every conspiracy theory but there is a conspiracy. Always has been. This is a wake up site that gets people thinking. That's a good thing.

originally posted by: onequestion
Hi, i have been writing observations on this website since 2009 and i have almost 450 thread topics. Most of these topics are personal observations and if you start with the first and finish the last you can watch the evolution of thought.

My question to you is, have you grown and evolved since youve been coming to this site?

What topic has intrigued and changed you the most?

yeah, now i hate people on my lawn more than i ever did.

i don't find as many interesting subjects as before.

a reply to: Destinyone

Well you look good all the same, wearing it or not. I challenge you to walk through supermarket with it on.

It's been about three years now, since I signed up... I was a lurker for about a year before that.. and I would say I have changed as a person yes, but that always comes with getting older.

I'v been online in forums and chat rooms since I was 12, back around 1997...
When facebook came around it completely destroyed the forum world, and that was very sad.. It took me awhile to find this place, but I'm glad I did.

As far as having this site change me, no, not really. I learned a very long time ago that the net is full of trolls/idiots/arseholes/opinions/and pompous know-it-alls.
With that being said, I also know that there is an abundance of information to be shared and learned, and places like this is the best way to get it... Though you have to dig through some dirt ofcourse *it is the internet* and do some research.

I'm just glad I can call a place home again in the web world.

I've been here 10+ years and have almost 40,000 posts.
It's easy to see how ATS has changed me. It's an open book.
If you aren't changed by posting at ATS ... you aren't doing it right ... IMHO


If you go back far enough you'll find posts by me saying that I think George Bush is a patriot and that we should trust him. Now I think he's an unhinged puppet.

If you go back far enough you'll find posts by me saying that I am undecided about the USA going into Iraq ... or you'll find posts by me saying that people are suffering in Iraq under a brutal regime and we need to rescue them. Now I know better and I know we never should have gone near the place. We were lied to and those who lied should be held accountable (but won't ever be).

If you go back far enough you'll find posts by me saying that Bush is better than Kerry and that's why we should vote for Bush. Now ... I say that Bush was 'less bad' than Kerry and that we should have voted third party.

If you go back far enough you'll find posts by me saying that I am a conservative old school roman Catholic. Now I think the Catholic church gets a bunch of things wrong and I've incorporated some Hindu/Buddhist thoughts into my belief system as well as a few other spiritual thoughts. A belief system that is constantly changing as I learn more. And now I"m not too keen on ANY organized religion.

If you go back far enough you'll find posts by me saying that Adam and Eve, and original sin, are all very real and that I am a firm believer in them. Now I know better. Science has proven Adam and Eve didn't happen. I can say that and it's okay ... I know I won't go to hell for knowing the truth.


Those are just a few examples of why it's a good thing that ATS isn't an echo chamber. We all learn from each other and we all grow. We have to give each other room to grow and change. I'm not the same person I was 10 years ago. I'm not the same person I was five years ago. Or even one year ago. And a year from now I'll be a different person than who I am right now. If we don't change and grow from our interactions on an open discussion forum like ATS .. then we are doing something wrong.


Thank God ATS isn't an echo chamber. Otherwise, we'd all be stuck in our religious and political indoctrinations and we wouldn't be able to think for ourselves.

anyone familiar with political/editorial cartoons...?

my mind is similar to the drawings & characters of Rodgers

my thoughts & voices are like the voice balloons of Oliphant

10 years ago I was 'Shoe'

originally posted by: DrumsRfun
a reply to: OpinionatedB


This is what pisses me off. (post by golantrevize)
www.abovetopsecret.com...
Look at the idiocy and the stars dolled out.
Ooooooohhh his nose is shaped like a triangle....must be illuminati.

Major fail.
This place is a nursery and the mods are just babysitters.

Its just bony meat sometimes.

6 years on this site.

When I started out on ATS it was looking for information about a sighting I'd had. That hasn't changed and the sighting will never be explained. I was a dead-set skeptic and now entertain ideas about NDEs, consciousness and can accept weirdness in life without needing to prove it wrong. ATS helped to fuel an interest that introduced me to some very nice people in the ufology/skeptic world. I'm closer to being a true sceptic than when I thought I was a skeptic. Funny old world, huh??

Equal to learning has been the company of some very interesting, intelligent people both as a member and as staff.