SanityProject

Video vs. text

This entry was posted in Commentary and tagged literacy SanityProject video on by

At their best, videos are a great source of information. They let you see events and look at the faces of people advancing their aims. But when it comes to analyzing and evaluating an issue, they’re a poor substitute for text. With the decline in reading by Americans, this is a serious concern.

The shift from large screens and paper materials to phones helps to explain the popularity of videos. It’s hard to read text on a pocket-sized screen. People often listen to videos more than they watch them. Or they half-listen while doing other things. This isn’t good for developing informed opinions.
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Addressing an insane world 1

This entry was posted in Writing and tagged education SanityProject writing on by

Insanity is the default state of humanity. Ever since I can remember, people have been declaring that their present is Heinlein’s “crazy years.” It’s getting worse, though. People are openly applauding the thug who gunned down Brian Thompson in the street. A lot of them are undoubtedly the same ones who applauded the massacre of innocent Israelis in 2023. The current president of the US abused his power to pardon his son, and the next one has declared his intent to pardon rioters who invaded the Capitol in support of his lies. The latter wants to tax imports and kick out immigrant workers who contribute to domestic production, and people cheer the policies that will inevitably make everything more expensive.

It’s easy to give in to despair. You can give up on the world and just try to enjoy the show as it collapses. But it’s too easy and accomplishes nothing. Besides, there are two reasons not to call it quits.
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Words without meaning 8

This entry was posted in Writing and tagged Internet language SanityProject vocabulary on by

To answer an accusation, you have to know what it means. If the words have no fixed meaning, no argument can show that it’s false. Certain words in the culture of the left serve this purpose. They allow irrefutable accusations — irrefutable because they mean whatever the accuser wants them to. Denying the accusation or defending someone else against it can even become evidence of guilt. Words are supposed to be the tools of thought, but these words are designed to make thought impossible.
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Yahoo News calls its readers “absolute morons”

This entry was posted in Writer ethics Writing and tagged fake news news SanityProject writing on by

I don’t know whether headline writing is a low-paying job that attracts incompetent people or they’re under time pressure and can’t do a decent job. Or perhaps their bosses tell them, “Never mind respect for the reader, write clickbait!” A headline that I just saw on Yahoo News tops them all: “No, Donald Trump Isn’t Wading Through Hurricane Floodwaters, You Absolute Morons.” I don’t know why Yahoo decided it was a good idea to grossly insult all its readers, but I won’t reward them with a link. You know the search-engine routine. Here’s a screenshot, in case the people responsible have been sacked by the time you read this.
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