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Fricken smile already and STFU!!! :p (pg. 11)
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View this Thread in Original format
| Slylee |
| quote: | Originally posted by Theresa
As many of you know, and for those of you who don't, I do not watch television.
For the most part, I am generally sheltered and out of the loop when it comes to current events. Many people disagree with my choice to do this, some think it makes me stupid or ignorant, and that is fine. You are allowed to believe whatever you'd like.
Personally, I feel it is one of the best decisions I have ever made. It has been about 3 years that I have been consistently avoiding mass media, and I can honestly say that the difference in my level of happiness now vs. when I was in the know is extreme.
Anyway, with that said, you can make the assumption that I am NOT NOT NOT desensitized to things like war, death, etc. These things strike a strong reaction from me, often to what seems to be an unusual extreme to others who are regularly exposed to this kind of material.
This morning, on my way out for school, I passed an apartment with the daily newspaper sitting in front of the door. The headline read something like, "###### Canadians Dead!"
When I came home this afternoon, I accidentally came across an article in regards to the war in Israel.
This is a lot of exposure for me, so I started to think a lot about the news in general and how awful it really is. My roomie and I sparked a discussion, and with the topic on our minds, he decided to watch the news on TV to see what the mass population is being told.
Feeling frustrated with the negativity and the general stupidity of the human race, I decided to prove my own point and count how many times a negative word or phrase was said vs. positive things.
Immediately within the first 5 minutes, I had heard over 80 negative words and phrases, and only a mere 9 positive things (which most of the time were countered with something negative).
Quickly tiring of this, I decided to make a list of the actual words and phrases. This was what I got out of 10 mins. worth of the news:
Death
Military threats
Attack
Mass fatalities
Mass evacuation
Canadian escape - many want out!
Targeted by air strikes
Destroyed by missiles
Not happy w/ slow pace
Escalating crisis
Conflict
Attacks on Israel
Rejected cease-fire
Rockets fell
Canons failed
Symbol of battle
Braced for rockets
Shattered homes, bodies and nerves
"Must hit them hard in the head"
War
Kidnapped
Fury
Rally nation
Guerilla fighter
Civilian casualties
Public bitterness
Terror
Unjustified
Grieving
Meltdown
Seriously, this is only what I could catch, not to mention, many of these were repeated!
The masses are listening to these types of things on a daily basis, feeding their minds with negative images, thoughts and feelings. People in general are narcissistic and pessimistic; the depression rates are enormous, and suicides are common.
We're living in an ugly world with a lot of terrible things, and I think too much exposure to all of the unpleasant facets of our species is damaging to ourselves as a people. We are afraid and angry, and we are lashing out at each other. The anger and aggression being expressed by our culture is overwhelming. You can even witness it here on TA; people making personal attacks on others, attempting to hurt one another.
We’re becoming spiteful, and enjoy watching the suffering of others. How many of you can say you haven’t laughed at someone else’s misfortunes? Why do we revel others tragedies?
This isn't right.
After only 15 minutes of watching the news, I am feeling upset, angry, and defeated. It makes me lose all faith in humanity when I see little children being dragged out of destroyed homes; militia brutally shooting down innocent people. It’s sickening, and disheartening.
Open your eyes people. We are our own worst enemy, and we need to change this! We, the young people who will soon be the adults running this culture, need to fight against this garbage, and instead fight for what is right. Let’s not run this country as a bunch of war mongering, vengeful people. Let’s work together to make this place better for our children, and our children’s children. The only way we can make a difference is if we act, and what better time than now? |
if we all lived in little protective bubbles like you've created for yourself, then yes, we all would be much happier. but denial doesn't make real issues go away.
i agree about not watching the news...but only local news. the local news in south florida honestly makes me annoyed as hell. i also think that about 90% of TV is absolute and it annoys me as well to think that some high paid executive actually thought some stupid show was going to be a hit. like Dog, the bounty hunter, anyone? what the hell is that crap??
anyway, i do, however, like to grab a few updates here and there on more trustworthy news channels like CNN (as opposed to Fox local bull who give u like a 2 second brief on something that would take an hour of reporting in order for people to grasp the story) to see what's going on in the world.
so yea, in a way, i think it's a bit ignorant to do what you're doing. but i wont completely hold it against you:p |
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| Inconspicuous |
| How do I shot war? |
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| mezzir |
evil begets evil
humans are evil by nature
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theresa, i understand your original point was largely missed, but it seems so damn wrong to so many of us that its hard to look past it. anyways looking past it, you want peace. of course. everyone wants peace. saddam hussein wanted peace. hitler wanted peace. pretty much everyone wants peace...eventually. its how we get there thats the problem. and i have a feeling that you want to get there without any war, violence, dispute, or any general 'negativity'. i'm sorry, but the whole argument you've presented is just too naive. |
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| Temperate |
| quote: | Originally posted by mezzir
humans are evil by nature
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I lol'd. |
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| venomX |
| quote: | Originally posted by Theresa
MY POINT:
TOO MUCH NEGATIVITY = UNHAPPY, BITCHY PEOPLE (much like many of you... and myself at the moment)
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I wanted to read through the whole thing but im kinda late for class, so ill take your main point that youve repeated several times. I agree with negative attitudes brings negative behaviors, depression, etc, its been proven by psychological studies. Now what i dont agree is that the only way to achieve this is by keeping oneself out of the loop and not knowing whats going on. Now im not attacking your decision to stay uninformed here, im just attacking the approach your preaching, namely that ignorance is the only way to attain positive attitudes, there are other many ways of doing this whilst staying informed and trying to promote change at the same time. |
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| tiesto14 |
| I'd like to teach the world to sing, in perfect harmony:rolleyes: |
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| lücid |
solution: watch The Daily Show
news + comedy = positive mood
:conf: |
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| Slylee |
| quote: | Originally posted by lücid
solution: watch The Daily Show
news + comedy = positive mood
:conf: |
lol
myra ur a genius! |
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| LiquidX |
| Why would you want to stay ignorant from the truth of things??!?!?!?!.. See, when people actually study and read the news of the state of national or international affairs and the state of politics and such, it helps you make better choices, either by voting or, supporting what you believe is right.. but if people like you stay on the bubble, then all the bad guys get what they want.. and they screw us all.... sorry to be so harsh, but I dont think that ignoring the facts can make you happier, it just makes you an unresponsible citizen of the world. :conf: |
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| Silky Johnson |
I don't think it's fair to say the media is aweful. Sure, it's pumped full of bad news all the time...but it's your job to take the information you've been given and think about it critically. The messages you get from the media are only as positive or negative as you've deciphered them to be.
On that note, as many others have said...the media can actually be a great tool for arming yourself in the crusade for peace. The information is only there for you to use...so use it wisely and take action. THAT's how you make change. |
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| Aquarian |
I was wondering if you've ever studied sociology. In any case, this is what reading your thread reminded me of. Maybe this is a field that might interrest you.
Have you ever spent time in Montreal? I always refer to this when talking about the concept of world peace because I find that it represents a good microcosm of what the world could be. Here you have two fairly important and different cultures (along with a bunch of minor ones) sharing more or less equal status and, despite minor friction, they manage to live in relative peace. If this model applies to a population of ~2 million, I don't see why it wouldn't apply to a larger scale (6 billion, for instance).
People are convinced that war is inevitable because indeed the media tends to overrepresent negative events. This gets the media it's deisred ratings, but it also has the secondary effect of creating a sort of 'culture of fear', influencing people to take a more conservative stance on issues, which in turn leads to more violence.
I think you have the right idea, but like it's been said, it needs to be develloped a bit. Sometimes the world isn't so simplistic, and just 'stopping the negativity' won't do it. First, you have to ask yourself - is this negative attitude the cause of the world's problems, or just a consequence (or borth)?
Fixing the problem would be even trickier, but understanding it's far reaching implications is a good start. Most people are just stuck with this attitude that the world will always be like this and that nothing can be done. |
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| LiquidX |
| quote: | Originally posted by stevieboy32808
Here's an excellent video originally posted by ogvh5150 in this thread: http://www.tranceaddict.com/forums/...&pagenumber=155
about the news media. I won't spoil it for you so you're just going to have to watch and see. It talks in depth about how corporations, government, and watchdog groups influence media.
A little off topic I know, but it could help shed some light on why the media is tainted here in the U.S. |
THATS a great video... Thanks for sharing. |
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