My father changed his politics radically when his health declined and he had to stay home watching tv because of mobility issues. Fuck FOX. Assholes. One of the most harmful entities in the USA. I wish every one of them would drop dead.
I listened to Infowars for fun for years. Surely it’s possible to listen to something and not start believing it. Maybe you’re right in general though.
That really sucks. What’s weird with my parents is that they never watch Fox News ever, only NBC, and still they remain conservative AF. They actively reject any negative information about Republicans. Totally don’t care whatsoever, anything and everything is justified by “both sides, but abortion!!”.
Sinclair is pretty insidious. They’re like the old Fox News. Their stories dovetail neatly with unbiased news while being biased. So they can watch NBC national and just get reinforced.
Honestly, keeping the news on all day is just poison anyways. Even a well meaning channel like CNN (although they might be going down the hole) can cause feelings of depression or desperation just because of what we consider to be news worthy. And then people are still stuck looking around for easy answers because CNN was responsible about not biasing the story.
It can happen really fast too though. Anchoring bias is where people tend to believe the first take on an event or news item that sounds reasonable to them.
My father changed his politics radically when his health declined and he had to stay home watching tv because of mobility issues. Fuck FOX. Assholes. One of the most harmful entities in the USA. I wish every one of them would drop dead.
I feel extremely lucky that my parents somehow avoided going down that rabbit hole. I’m sorry the hate-media got to your dad, that really sucks.
My dad used to watch it to laugh at it, but I think my mom took a lot of it seriously.
That shit is a cognitive hazard.
Everybody thinks they’re immune to propaganda themselves, that it only influences other dumber people.
I listened to Infowars for fun for years. Surely it’s possible to listen to something and not start believing it. Maybe you’re right in general though.
You also don’t have to be dumb to fall for scams. (Though it certainly makes it easier.)
If they hit the right timing and get lucky with circumstances, they can get just about anyone.
Also most scams have been aimed at boomers. They’ll look different when they’re aimed at millennials.
It happened to my dad after a TBI in like 2015. Went full ancient aliens too.
Hey now. If it weren’t for Ancient Aliens I would probably never sleep. Have a little respect for my insomnia cure!
IDK, have you tried something less likely to cause brain damage, like a 2x4 to the head or something?
So fortunate that my parents got more liberal as they got older.
That really sucks. What’s weird with my parents is that they never watch Fox News ever, only NBC, and still they remain conservative AF. They actively reject any negative information about Republicans. Totally don’t care whatsoever, anything and everything is justified by “both sides, but abortion!!”.
How much facebook are they on?
mom: constantly, but this attitude pre-dates FB. my dad has never had a FB account to my knowledge.
If it’s a local station it might be Sinclair.
Yeah, it definitely is (semi recently acquired), but they also watch the national NBC news every night
Sinclair is pretty insidious. They’re like the old Fox News. Their stories dovetail neatly with unbiased news while being biased. So they can watch NBC national and just get reinforced.
Honestly, keeping the news on all day is just poison anyways. Even a well meaning channel like CNN (although they might be going down the hole) can cause feelings of depression or desperation just because of what we consider to be news worthy. And then people are still stuck looking around for easy answers because CNN was responsible about not biasing the story.
Any news over an hour or two isn’t news it’s fear mongering and entertainment to keep you engaged.
I hate it and am so glad none of my immediate family watches it or even has cable.
You hear something dozen then a hundred times and it becomes true and reality for so many people.
It can happen really fast too though. Anchoring bias is where people tend to believe the first take on an event or news item that sounds reasonable to them.
BE THE CHANGE YOU WISH TO SEE IN THE WORLD