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Blogged it last week; I got 17 out of 24 myself.
But I did think it was a bit bollocks, to say the least.
On the quiz, half of the 17 I got right, I didn't know the answers to; I just opted for the most 'unbelievable' or 'shocking' answers I could see.
These were generally right (without spoiling it for anyone, the anti-racist question got me) and I think that's part of what turned me off Disinfo some time ago.
There's a smug kind of feel to a lot of the site, with its 'counterculturaler-than-thou' tone. Note that it's YOU who is being lied to, because, "hey, you're a dumb schmuck, whereas we're not - by the way, do you want to buy a book? We've written one, but you'll never tell, It's only ever plugged about four times a day on our site."
There's also a massive American bias, although to be fair, Disinfo does seem to be an American site (even if the editor is an Ozzie, IIRC)
But enough of my disinfo-hatred, what about the quiz itself?
Did I believe the statistics I was given?
You mean the answers to the quiz? No. I never believe statistics 100 per cent until I've looked into them; just because Disinfo seem to think I'm wrong, doesn't mean they're necessarily right.
There seems to be a perception in Disinfo world - obvious from the name - that 'you are being lied to' and that there is a world of 'secrets and lies.' It's the conspiratorial mindset which gets me - y'know, where did Disinfo find all this "hidden" information, then?
There is a "further reading" section in the book (see the answer to question 27) so what Disinfo seem to be saying is that we are All being lied to, but they can tell what is true and what isn't.
And yes, it certainly seemed that the truths were selected to show that "everything you know is wrong" - but hey, don't forget, they've got a book to sell here.
But these aren't all widely known "facts" because, for the most part, people don't care about what they are told as much as they should do. Sad but true. Many people also don't keep note of every news item they read or see on TV - and, especially if the issue is being covered in depth, they may switch off. It's also easy, unless you are a news junkie, to miss stuff which can be made, later, to look like a major conspiracy which was kept hidden.
So it's relatively easy, with the right mindset, to convince people there are massive conspiracies, and that they are living in a world which is very different to how they assume its is.
I'm just not so sure that everyone assumes the world is the way Disinfo seems to assume they do. |
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