I knew this sort of thing was coming, but this is the first concrete example I have heard of anyone actually claiming that real footage was fake. The claims probably sound plausible to Trump...
I knew this sort of thing was coming, but this is the first concrete example I have heard of anyone actually claiming that real footage was fake.
The claims probably sound plausible to Trump supporters though, given the fact that the DeSantis campaign (or just aligned PACs, maybe) have been releasing actual AI faked content attacking Trump.
I take solace in the fact that they already deny reality to the extent that they don't need AI as an excuse to reject what they're seeing and hearing. Proof and evidence are just roadblocks that...
I take solace in the fact that they already deny reality to the extent that they don't need AI as an excuse to reject what they're seeing and hearing. Proof and evidence are just roadblocks that must be navigated around to return to the narrative they've established for themselves. They've been claiming medical studies, articles, and court cases have been fabricated or illegitimate for decades. No amount of mental gymnastics was too great when denying photos and videos. You can look at the January 6 coup attempt, livestream video evidence was denied as a false flag by the FBI or CIA or ACLU or whatever.
I totally get what you're saying, but I think everyone uses a belief system to reduce reality into grokkable scale and make choices. The idea that another person or group of persons' belief system...
I totally get what you're saying, but I think everyone uses a belief system to reduce reality into grokkable scale and make choices.
The idea that another person or group of persons' belief system is easily falsifiable gives one a sense that their own construct of reality is sound -- but it's basically a guarantee that that construct is also using a patchwork of beliefs to hold itself together.
For anyone outside the bubble of conservative thought in the US (or frankly anywhere), the falsifiability of so much of their thinking is so obvious it's hard to comprehend how they can stay in that mindstate, but to automatically assume the converse: that therefore your own mindstate is the source of truth, that's likely a bad shortcut and can lead to similar belief -based vulnerabilities.
They aren't implying that their own belief systems are 100% true and correct. The misapprehensions, misunderstandings and downright falsehoods that most of us live with are a completely different...
They aren't implying that their own belief systems are 100% true and correct. The misapprehensions, misunderstandings and downright falsehoods that most of us live with are a completely different situation from what they're discussing. The issue is not that the beliefs of conservatives are falsifiable, it's that they aren't. "Falsifiable" doesn't mean "false" or even "it's false and I can prove it". It means "It's possible to know whether this is false." The statement "I have 10 fingers" is true and falsifiable. They're countable. The statement "God works in mysterious ways" is not falsifiable. There's no way to know if that's true. The universe in which there is a God that works in mysterious ways can't be distinguished from a universe in which there is no God. Many reasonable people believe in a God like that, but they're aware that they're suspending disbelief. That's what faith is.
What we're talking about is a massive group of people who do not think they are suspending their disbelief, they believe themselves to be rational and even skeptical, and their belief system is full of unfalsifiable beliefs like "vaccines are killing people and the government is hiding it from you and they're doing such a good job of hiding it that it's indistinguishable from what the world would look like if people were just dying from Covid." Or beliefs that are unfalsifiable due to being contradictory, like "Covid is no big deal, the government is using it as an excuse to take away your rights" and "Covid is a race-specific bioweapon". Those things aren't falsifiable. There's no proof that you could use to debunk those ideas in the people that hold them, because they have untestable explanations and excuses.
I'm sure I believe a lot of things that aren't true, because I misremembered or trusted a source I shouldn't have, or even because humanity as a whole hasn't discovered the truth about that topic yet. But my response when offered evidence is to change those beliefs. Their response is to reject the evidence completely, or add a layer of conspiracy. It is not possible to show them evidence that their beliefs are false, not because they are true, but because they are unfalsifiable.
I knew this sort of thing was coming, but this is the first concrete example I have heard of anyone actually claiming that real footage was fake.
The claims probably sound plausible to Trump supporters though, given the fact that the DeSantis campaign (or just aligned PACs, maybe) have been releasing actual AI faked content attacking Trump.
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/07/17/desantis-pac-ai-generated-trump-in-ad-00106695
https://www.npr.org/2023/06/08/1181097435/desantis-campaign-shares-apparent-ai-generated-fake-images-of-trump-and-fauci
Bizarre and troubling politics are coming, I don’t know how we will navigate these waters.
Mirror, for those hit by the paywall:
https://archive.is/uARdi
I take solace in the fact that they already deny reality to the extent that they don't need AI as an excuse to reject what they're seeing and hearing. Proof and evidence are just roadblocks that must be navigated around to return to the narrative they've established for themselves. They've been claiming medical studies, articles, and court cases have been fabricated or illegitimate for decades. No amount of mental gymnastics was too great when denying photos and videos. You can look at the January 6 coup attempt, livestream video evidence was denied as a false flag by the FBI or CIA or ACLU or whatever.
I totally get what you're saying, but I think everyone uses a belief system to reduce reality into grokkable scale and make choices.
The idea that another person or group of persons' belief system is easily falsifiable gives one a sense that their own construct of reality is sound -- but it's basically a guarantee that that construct is also using a patchwork of beliefs to hold itself together.
For anyone outside the bubble of conservative thought in the US (or frankly anywhere), the falsifiability of so much of their thinking is so obvious it's hard to comprehend how they can stay in that mindstate, but to automatically assume the converse: that therefore your own mindstate is the source of truth, that's likely a bad shortcut and can lead to similar belief -based vulnerabilities.
They aren't implying that their own belief systems are 100% true and correct. The misapprehensions, misunderstandings and downright falsehoods that most of us live with are a completely different situation from what they're discussing. The issue is not that the beliefs of conservatives are falsifiable, it's that they aren't. "Falsifiable" doesn't mean "false" or even "it's false and I can prove it". It means "It's possible to know whether this is false." The statement "I have 10 fingers" is true and falsifiable. They're countable. The statement "God works in mysterious ways" is not falsifiable. There's no way to know if that's true. The universe in which there is a God that works in mysterious ways can't be distinguished from a universe in which there is no God. Many reasonable people believe in a God like that, but they're aware that they're suspending disbelief. That's what faith is.
What we're talking about is a massive group of people who do not think they are suspending their disbelief, they believe themselves to be rational and even skeptical, and their belief system is full of unfalsifiable beliefs like "vaccines are killing people and the government is hiding it from you and they're doing such a good job of hiding it that it's indistinguishable from what the world would look like if people were just dying from Covid." Or beliefs that are unfalsifiable due to being contradictory, like "Covid is no big deal, the government is using it as an excuse to take away your rights" and "Covid is a race-specific bioweapon". Those things aren't falsifiable. There's no proof that you could use to debunk those ideas in the people that hold them, because they have untestable explanations and excuses.
I'm sure I believe a lot of things that aren't true, because I misremembered or trusted a source I shouldn't have, or even because humanity as a whole hasn't discovered the truth about that topic yet. But my response when offered evidence is to change those beliefs. Their response is to reject the evidence completely, or add a layer of conspiracy. It is not possible to show them evidence that their beliefs are false, not because they are true, but because they are unfalsifiable.