If Google can't be trusted, what information source can I trust?

submitted by JasonCarswell from self.AskSaidIt

If Google can't be trusted, what information source can I trust?

A fine question initially posed here, however the very premise of this question is faulty. Why must you settle for a single source and depend on it?

All corporate "mainstream" media will give you variations on the same bullshit, so I recommend you drop all of it for alternative media. You'll still be exposed to more than enough of the "mainstream" shit as the alternative media reacts and analyses the glossy manufactured nonsense. You'll still remain in "the loop" but also gain superior independent insights on matters.

Don't trust alternative media either. Find a handful of diverse viewpoints that are oppositionally biased. From these different angles discover how issues are spun from various factions as well as the common elements to reveal the undisputed fundamentals. In this way you may triangulate upon your own truths. Over time you'll find some sources you align with, rarely disagreeing. Follow them, but never stop challenging yourself and keep looking for new ideas. Maintain skepticism, critical thinking, and always question everyone, even those you admire.

Obviously there are alternative search engines like https://DuckDuckGo.com and more in the Search engine alternatives list among other lists: /s/DecentralizeAllThings/wiki

There's no shortage of alternative media sources to explore. The problem is digging through the shit to find the gold - and how do we know it's gold rather than fool's gold?

If anyone's interested, I could draft up my favourite alt-media (mostly YouTube) sooner than later. In the spring I intend to start a comprehensive WikiSpooks project for us to contribute to.

Thumbnail from "The Google Propaganda Machine", 2019-05-30

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[–][deleted] 7 insightful - 3 fun7 insightful - 2 fun8 insightful - 3 fun -  (15 children)

Trust your own brain if you can, your gut instinct, your intuition and your experience. That said wikipedia alternatives exist and should be used, wikipedia is totally corporate controlled. Just look at these two entries, one from https://en.citizendium.org and one wikipedia.

https://en.citizendium.org A chiropractor is a licensed and trained health care professional who performs musculoskeletal manipulations and other therapeutic procedures within the conceptual framework and scope of practice of chiropractic.

wikipedia: Chiropractic is a pseudoscientific complementary and alternative medicine

Systematic reviews of controlled clinical studies of treatments used by chiropractors have not found evidence that chiropractic manipulation is effective... There is not sufficient data to establish the safety of chiropractic manipulations.[11] It is frequently associated with mild to moderate adverse effects, with serious or fatal complications in rare cases.

The whole entry is a fear campaign to warn people off chiropractors yet I have been going to them for 30 years and they, for the most part, are excellent.

Now go look at their entries on MD directed medicine and you'll find glowing reports. They are Whores over on wikipedia, corporate shills!

[–]Node 7 insightful - 4 fun7 insightful - 3 fun8 insightful - 4 fun -  (3 children)

Wikipedia is less corporate shills, and more a 'leftist cabal' that's essentially grown strong enough to dominate and control the editing, and editors. They're the same people on reddit who silence wrongthink and unapproved opinions.

[–]JasonCarswell[S] 6 insightful - 3 fun6 insightful - 2 fun7 insightful - 3 fun -  (2 children)

Q: Who does the cabal serve?

A: The corporatocracy.

[–]Klenvastergan 5 insightful - 2 fun5 insightful - 1 fun6 insightful - 2 fun -  (1 child)

Corporatocracy serves the theocracy.

[–]Losferwords 3 insightful - 3 fun3 insightful - 2 fun4 insightful - 3 fun -  (0 children)

The Theocracy serves Satan.

[–]StrategicTactic 3 insightful - 2 fun3 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 2 fun -  (9 children)

While I agree with your core point, I disagree with your assessment of chiropractic treatments.

Wikipedia has some major flaws with revisionism and how it treats opinion in general. It still can be useful, particularly when you can get to their sources.

As far as chiropractors, my brother has his master's degree in software engineering. He received a license for massage from a 6 hour course. A great number of people confuse the two, and some massage therapists even encourage this.

To me, the test of a valid system is its output. What would be the output from a chiropractor? To live free of pain from previous injuries without needing further treatment. Does the session result in a lack of pain? Usually. Are more treatments required? I have yet to hear of someone who has NOT needed to go back. Thus, this has to me the same effectiveness as opiates. It will likely work, but I hope you can afford them forever.

[–][deleted] 3 insightful - 2 fun3 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 2 fun -  (4 children)

To me, the test of a valid system is its output. What would be the output from a chiropractor? To live free of pain from previous injuries without needing further treatment.

Well that opinion is meaningless. If you have diabetes do you get a single treatment? If you go to the dentist for a filling at age 21 is that tooth now sound and you're done with the dentist for life? If you take your car in for a service do you never take it again? We are talking about injury, usually significant, to a dynamic system, the human body.

As for the "affording them forever" meme, that's as ridiculous a statement as I have ever heard. Most people I know visit doctors and dentists "forever" and buy smartphones "forever" and buy food, "forever" What is it about chiropractic services that make ill-informed people expect a Miracle to occur...

[–]JasonCarswell[S] 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

Some kinds of diabetes are treatable via adjusted proper diet.

Some chiropractor visits are for treatments and some for solutions.

[–]StrategicTactic 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

Well that opinion is meaningless. If you have diabetes do you get a single treatment? If you go to the dentist for a filling at age 21 is that tooth now sound and you're done with the dentist for life? If you take your car in for a service do you never take it again? We are talking about injury, usually significant, to a dynamic system, the human body.

As for the "affording them forever" meme, that's as ridiculous a statement as I have ever heard. Most people I know visit doctors and dentists "forever" and buy smartphones "forever" and buy food, "forever" What is it about chiropractic services that make ill-informed people expect a Miracle to occur...

Keep attacking that strawman! You can hit it forever! A system that is set to run forever on one input is stalled. When you get new input, it should have a valid output. Each injury would need you to use a system to analyze it (is it something I can resolve myself?) and then a separate system for the fix (bandaid? Surgery? Drug regimen?). It is the same with dentists- a test to determine if the system has faults, followed by corrective action.

Just to flip your meaningless opinion on its head, imagine systems that run forever on one input. The blue screen of death comes to mind. Perpetual motion machines perhaps? In programming, a program that runs forever is in an infinite loop, which is a beginner mistake.

[–][deleted] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Just to flip your meaningless opinion on its head, imagine systems that run forever on one input. Perpetual motion machines perhaps? In programming, a program that runs forever is in an infinite loop

Oh, you are computer nut, I get it. Someone living in a computer screen with no experience in the real world. Well I'll leave you with your perpetual motion machine. Have a lovely day.

[–]StrategicTactic 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

The fact you think someone who is "a computer nut" could have no experience in the real world says far more about you than me. Good day.

[–]christnmusicreleases 2 insightful - 3 fun2 insightful - 2 fun3 insightful - 3 fun -  (0 children)

My chiropractors taught me how to treat and maintain myself.

[–]JasonCarswell[S] 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (1 child)

My brother did years of school at the University Of Western Ontario then more years in Toronto (not many chiropractor schools around), then apprenticed for years, and now has his own clinic for years. In addition to focusing on sports injuries he also does all the other kinetics stuff, including massage, computerized footstep analysis, magnet stuff, vibrator stuff, shock stuff, specialized acupuncture, and other things he had to train for and be certified.

I have known people addicted to chiropractors. I've also known some who were treated and done, including myself.

[–][deleted] 3 insightful - 2 fun3 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

Some like to go back every month or two for a 'tune up' as they say but to me that's like running off to the doctor every time you sneeze. I had to go several times after a motorcycle accident, then years later again after a work injury, then again a decade later because I had taken up running which for a big guy is murder on your lower back. each time the joints were corrected, the pain went and I learned a lesson on what not to do in life.

I met a guy in a flea market once when I was in a bad state, I was bending over awkwardly and supporting myself with a hand on one knee. I heard a voice behind me say " Whatever you do, don't get the operation" I turned around and there was a guy in a wheelchair.

[–]asterias 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

As far as chiropractors, my brother has his master's degree in software engineering. He received a license for massage from a 6 hour course.

There are also dentists who had a seminar on orthodontics or dental implants and claim to be specialists in those areas where clearly they are not. It's a grey area that unscrupulous pros take advantage of and it's not chiropractor specific.

[–]JasonCarswell[S] 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

LOL. My brother is a Chiropractor. Dr. Ben Carswell, south Windsor, Ontario, Canada. He's very good. I'm quite certain that there is no shortage of chiro-quacks in the USA, just as there are medical-quacks. My father is an M.D., recently retired. Both of them will tell you the same. I also dated at naturopathic doctor. She knows some peddle woo, but she's in it for the natural herbs and such.

[–][deleted]  (8 children)

[deleted]

    [–]Node 5 insightful - 3 fun5 insightful - 2 fun6 insightful - 3 fun -  (0 children)

    How did we obtain information in 1985

    We drove to the library and tackled the card catalog. Or we called our smart friend.

    [–]JasonCarswell[S] 2 insightful - 3 fun2 insightful - 2 fun3 insightful - 3 fun -  (6 children)

    Yes and no.

    Also from a bygone era, phone books didn't make people dumber - or smarter.

    Can you imagine if the phone book censored and told you who you should call?

    [–][deleted]  (3 children)

    [deleted]

      [–]JasonCarswell[S] 3 insightful - 3 fun3 insightful - 2 fun4 insightful - 3 fun -  (2 children)

      Truth.

      People had to be jacks of all trades. Sadly most aren't anymore. More than sad. Tragic.

      [–][deleted]  (1 child)

      [deleted]

        [–]JasonCarswell[S] 2 insightful - 3 fun2 insightful - 2 fun3 insightful - 3 fun -  (0 children)

        And shelter. Most people actually knew what "labour" was then.

        [–]StrategicTactic 1 insightful - 2 fun1 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 2 fun -  (1 child)

        Have you heard of the yellow pages? Where you paid to have larger ads before others? I realize not being promoted is not the same as censorship, but if you see 5 pages of ads for one service and one line for a different one, you are still being told who to call.

        [–]JasonCarswell[S] 1 insightful - 2 fun1 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

        The analogies are flawed. You can't look at news, conspiracies, porn, health information, encyclopedic references, maps, cat videos, shopping catalogues, forums, etc. in a phone book.

        [–][deleted] 4 insightful - 3 fun4 insightful - 2 fun5 insightful - 3 fun -  (6 children)

        Do not use DuckDuckGo

        http://techrights.org/2020/07/02/ddg-privacy-abuser-in-disguise/

        Direct Privacy Abuse:

        DDG was caught violating its own privacy policy by issuing tracker cookies.
DDG’s app sends every URL you visit to DDG servers. (reaction).
DDG is currently collecting users’ operating systems and everything they highlight in the search results. (to verify this, simply hit F12 in your browser and select the “network” tab. Do a search with javascript enabled. Highlight some text on the screen. Mouseover the traffic rows and see that your highlighted text, operating system, and other details relating to geolocation are sent to DDG. Then change the query and submit. Notice that the previous query is being transmitted with the new query to link the queries together)
DDG is accused of fingerprinting users’ browsers.
When clicking an ad on the DDG results page, all data available in your session is sent to the advertiser, which is why the Epic browser project refuses to set DDG as the default browser.
DDG blacklisted Framabee, a search engine for the highly respected framasoft.org consortium.

        [–]JasonCarswell[S] 1 insightful - 2 fun1 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 2 fun -  (5 children)

        What alternatives then?

        [–][deleted] 4 insightful - 2 fun4 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 2 fun -  (4 children)

        SearX

        [–][deleted]  (1 child)

        [deleted]

          [–][deleted] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

          Thats not true, go here https://searx.xyz/preferences , click 'engines' and 'allow all'. Or better yet run your own private instance and select from dozens of search engines to include

          [–]JasonCarswell[S] 1 insightful - 2 fun1 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 2 fun -  (1 child)

          https://DuckDuckGo.com/?q=SearX

          https://en.Wikipedia.org/wiki/Searx

          https://searX.info

          [–][deleted] 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

          You can also run your own instance

          [–]RM-Goetbbels 3 insightful - 3 fun3 insightful - 2 fun4 insightful - 3 fun -  (0 children)

          Don't trust alternative media either. Find a handful of diverse viewpoints that are oppositionally biased.

          This more or less sums it up for me sort of. I find a reliable source and pin point it's bias, who sponsors it and use that to form my opinion.

          A good example would be the Tax Foundation.

          They ask people to sponsor them- "As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, we depend on the generosity of individuals like you. Help us continue our work by making a tax-deductible gift today."

          Their agenda is fairly straightforward- "For over 80 years, our goal has remained the same: to improve lives through tax policies that lead to greater economic growth and opportunity."

          While I sort of scoff at their claim of "non profit" I scoff at every corporation, charity or organization that claims to be. Somebody is profiting. There are thousands of employees, expense accounts, paid trips, health insurance and everything else that goes with employment. They profit or else no one would show up for work.

          So with the Tax Foundation I know that there bias is to reduce or eliminate taxes and while it is a bias it is one that only people who want to increase taxes will disagree with. The thing about taxes is that if you don't feel you pay enough you can always donate to whatever it is you feel needs more money but people that want to increase taxation NEVER want that money to come from their bank accounts, they want others to do it. And that's just filthy. Those people are trash that steal from others while claiming to be decent human beings.

          [–]asterias 3 insightful - 2 fun3 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

          Don't know about other countries, but here there was a scandal about all major (and many minor as well) press players receiving millions of euros so that they would say the same things about covid.