I totally get where you’re coming from in regard to the importance of critical thinking and media bias/government influence.

As for my blog, the references section is how how I affirm it’s valid information. I used scholarly sources or reputable publications, like Psychology today, and only linked to media sources when it was pertaining to the current radicalism in our politics over here in the US.

But even then, I personally use independent media fact checkers on the media institutions I cited. Cross-checking what those articles state is pretty easy, and having multiple unbiased/less biased sources corroborating reporting is a decent indication it is accurate.

But as you said, recognizing the validity of citations is a learned skill. Speaking personally, this was a skill I developed academically. I often encourage people to take a critical thinking course at a local community college and I believe that should be mandatory curriculum in high school/secondary school.

That certainly provided me with a buffer to the misinformation and radicalism that I’ve seen grip and corrupt so many people I know/knew.

You are absolutely right about repetition being key in how people are radicalized. It spreads through a social contagion effect, in which one is repeatedly exposed to extremism and this is reinforced by members of the in-group.

You can see the citations for this claim in the beginning of this article I published after doing my own research (hahaha).

I have ads turned off and don’t benefit from my blog. Just started it to have information ready to counter misinformation I come across online.

Doing your own research being good/bad depends entirely on one’s ability to scrutinize reliable sources. When I “do my own research” it looks like this.

When my brother “does his own research” he presents horrendously false information from terribly bias and debunked sources. He’s the primary family member which influenced my writing that piece on radicalism.

If someone is unable to comprehend/recognize valid from invalid/biased sources/information, “doing their own research” is very dangerous in fueling further extreme/conspiratorial beliefs.

QAnon and covid/anti-masking are great examples in which people “doing their own research” resulted in a lot of unnecessary suffering and stupidity.

People should learn how to effectively scrutinize sources before they attempt to “research” something themselves. “Doing your own research” can be productive or unproductive, and it depends entirely on the individual.

To your AOC edit, the kind of thing I believe she is referring to are secret projects like USAF Project 1794 that could involve modern contractors like Boeing and Lockheed Martin.

Ha! I appreciate it. I stay far away from abduction stories and stick with declassified documents and former military/DoD/Intelligence officials.

I ultimately believe UAP are real objects, but their origin is total speculation. Could be secret government tech. I personally can’t rule out non-human intelligence, but there’s no evidence of that. But there is evidence that UAP are real objects under intelligent control, possessing disruptive/breakthrough technology.

If you read the information in that link, there were crafts in our atmosphere beginning in 1947, which had capabilities that outperform our current (publicly disclosed) most advanced aircraft. The performance capabilities included speeds of thousands of miles per hour, 90-degree turns, instantaneous acceleration, and silent operation.

Many of these sightings around the world were accompanied by radar which confirmed the visual observations. Some have left detectable levels of radiation. All of this is cited in that link. Also in that link is the Nimitz Event, in which a UAP outperformed F/A-18F Superhornets and left the Top Gun pilots shaken.

I’m not stating this is technology from outside our planet. I’m not saying this can’t be human technology. Look at Project 1794 in that link. That was the United States Airforce’s secret contract to Avro Aircraft to build a literal ‘flying saucer’ powered by 6 Siddeley Viper turbo-jet engines.

It’s important to note, however, that the aircraft from Project 1794 was not capable of the performance capabilities of the UAP/UFO that began being mass sighted around the world in 1947.

So either we have kept aircraft technology so far advanced that it outperforms modern declassified tech secret since 1947, or something else might be responsible.

Certainly not explicit evidence of intelligent life, but the UAP situation makes me wonder. I have compiled a tremendous amount of evidence supporting the claim that UAP/UFO are real intelligently controlled objects. Once again, because often people cannot separate the two, this does not prove aliens are real/that is not my argument.

The sources of information are all legitimate and you can verify them for yourself. I sourced the actual government documents from the National Archives. There’s no debating the authenticity of the documents. I also included bipartisan quotes supporting the topic, including Schumer and AOC. There is also verified goverment footage of UAP.

For the people whose first instinct is to mislabel me as a crackpot and ignore the link: If you are so sure of yourself, I challenge you to read it and see if you think I’m crazy. You wouldn’t say that about other pieces I write. I’m about to start my Master’s in Clinical Counseling. I’m not some wild conspiracy theorist.

The amount of denial to the point where people won’t even consider evaluating evidence feels like Don’t Look Up.

Edit: This is an excerpt from my post for those who are so sure of themselves to consider:

I admit I had difficulty suspending my disbelief in the possibility of UAP, but there is an important example from history that ought to give the skeptic pause in unilaterally dismissing this subject before reading on. I’m referring to the discovery of handwashing, in which everyone originally rejected the antiseptic procedure and surgeons didn’t even wash their hands prior to operation.

Despite his research, Semmelweis’s observations conflicted with the established scientific and medical opinions of the time and his ideas were rejected by the medical community. He could offer no theoretical explanation for his findings of reduced mortality due to hand-washing, and some doctors were offended at the suggestion that they should wash their hands and mocked him for it. In 1865, the increasingly outspoken Semmelweis allegedly suffered a nervous breakdown and was committed to an asylum by his colleagues. In the asylum he was beaten by the guards. He died 14 days later from a gangrenous wound on his right hand that may have been caused by the beating. [43]

Like Semmelweis’ research, this subject is being discounted and rejected on the basis of preexisting beliefs; not lack of reasonable evidence or ability to to study UAP. And like Semmelweis, rational individuals and scientists studying this subject are being mislabeled as crackpots, and their research misconstrued to have to do with aliens, rather than the very real phenomenon at hand.

I find it wild that people find explanation uninteresting and boring… Like, I get that it’s exciting to wonder and speculate about things, but I find getting real answers to be the most exciting. Expanding human knowledge is exciting, not boring.

If anyone is interested, I have posted a very detailed account of evidence supporting the existence of UAP (not aliens).

It contains admissions of their existence by the US government on multiple occasions and throughout multiple decades. I have included footage of UAP confirmed to be valid by our government, and a bunch of declassified government documents on the subject.

I don’t rule out the possibility of alien existence in the universe, and I don’t rule out that such entities could be responsible for the disruptive/breakthrough technology represented in UAP, but aliens and even the origin of UAP are irrelevant to whether or not the UAP themselves exist.

They do, and I have provided a tremendous amount of evidence supporting this from a rational and skeptical perspective.

And since the topic is being mislabeled as crazy Republicans, I’d like to point out I’m left-leaning and I’ve also included quotes and documentation of Democrats’ support of the topic, including Chuck Schumer and AOC. The truth is there is essentially unanimous support from the right and left in drafting UAP-related legislation. This is not a crazy conspiracy theory. It’s not like the anti-vaxxer lunacy. It is reality.

I’ve played it a little on Xbox since it’s on gamepass and I haven’t encountered any bugs, other than a single game crash. Is the PC release significantly worse than console?

Doesn’t feel revolutionary but I’m enjoying it. Created Amos Burton and it’s a pretty fun playthru so far.

Edit: Okay so let me correct that to replicatible crashes after xbox captures (both screenshots and recordings).

I started a discovery plus account because I wanted to watch Mythbusters and Dirty Jobs again, after all these years. Then immediately after, the merger happened and they came to max (without commercials like on my discovery trial), so I immediately canceled discovery plus.