My thoughts on the truth

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Good column Donnie. We are living in crazy times.

People who post about red states without discussing the blue islands within them don't understand geography. Dallas and Austin are very different from the red areas around them.
 
I'm assuming the reference to FEMA skipping houses in Florida is referring to an employee who told team members not to help houses with Trump signs and then was fired. If so, I think the piece is a little misleading to suggest that this was an action being carried out by FEMA. And for someone reading the piece who is unfamiliar with the situation, this would support accusations leveled at FEMA, which are not true.
 
PTOHeel said:
I'm assuming the reference to FEMA skipping houses in Florida is referring to an employee who told team members not to help houses with Trump signs and then was fired. If so, I think the piece is a little misleading to suggest that this was an action being carried out by FEMA. And for someone reading the piece who is unfamiliar with the situation, this would support accusations leveled at FEMA, which are not true.
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As someone on “the Left”, I was angered far more by the report of someone at FEMA doing this than the 2 or 3 sheriffs saying they wouldn’t help Harris voters. Firing them isn’t enough, IMO.
 
Kind of sounds like the writers of Deadpool got a side hustle: jumping all over the place to add add in a ton of pop culture references and maybe get to the point at the end. If that's what you're going for, I think you nailed it. And those guys have put out some very popular content so I'm not saying it's a bad thing.

If you are trying to hit the message a little harder, like I see you do on here, I'd probably try again.
 
Not familiar with Deadpool so I am emulating no one. This is basically a first draft and I hear you. Thx
 
In my personal opinion the conclusion is too much about you, and not about the broader point, which is that you should not make assumptions about what anyone believes based on a single post, and in particular a post expressing that people should be more careful in confirming things they see posted online. Making it about you makes it come off as more defensive. Just my opinion.

Also, to the subject matter: my personal opinion is that the search for truth is entirely quixotic at this point. The internet was supposed to make it easier to find accurate information; instead it just provided a massive opportunity for both fools and bad actors to spread misinformation that serves their own purposes. As you note at the beginning of your editorial, we're drowning in elephant dung, and that's because most people can't tell the difference between elephant dung and filet mignon. The idea that truth wins in the "marketplace of ideas" is now laughable; in fact, our infinite "marketplace" just allows people the ability to find confirmation for whatever they want to believe so they can feel better about believing it. Education and critical thinking skills are the only way out of it, and unfortunately those things are being successfully attacked around the world by people who would rather keep the population ignorant and their minds susceptible to disinformation.
 
heel79 said:
Not familiar with Deadpool so I am emulating no one. This is basically a first draft and I hear you. Thx
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I'm really not dogging it as much as giving you some honest feedback. If that's what you're going for, it's great. I would probably go with a different tone but you're a heck of a lot better writer than I will ever be. In other words, you're the expert. Go with what you think is best.
 
I think you could shorten the price by simply saying that using social media as your news source makes you an idiot.

Of course as you stated there are “smart” people who get drunk on confirmation bias no matter how obviously fake it is.

Al Gore’s invention ruined America.
 
“Well, he has no clue how smart I think I am so at best this is conjecture.‘

I really lIke that line!

I agree with PTOHeel the part about FEMA in Florida is a bit misleading. It was a FEMA employee who has been fired, they weren’t implementing FEMA policy and FEMA dealt with immediately upon learning what happened, so the culprit wasn’t “FEMA.” I think that’s an important distinction.

I enjoyed the column, and think you certainly identify a serious issue. I have no idea how to deal with it.
 
farce© said:
“Well, he has no clue how smart I think I am so at best this is conjecture.‘

I really lIke that line!

I agree with PTOHeel the part about FEMA in Florida is a bit misleading. It was a FEMA employee who has been fired, they weren’t implementing FEMA policy and FEMA dealt with immediately upon learning what happened, so the culprit wasn’t “FEMA.” I think that’s an important distinction.

I enjoyed the column, and think you certainly identify a serious issue. I have no idea how to deal with it.
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I think that's an open question and is under investigation. The woman who wrote the text says otherwise. Plus, if you look at her text, it's so matter of fact in her commands to her subordinates.
 
Ramrouser said:
I think that's an open question and is under investigation. The woman who wrote the text says otherwise. Plus, if you look at her text, it's so matter of fact in her commands to her subordinates.
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I don't know . That text seems wistful and remorseful to me. Maybe we're looking at different fonts.
 
heel79 said:
Some know I write a column for a newspaper. Not sure if I am violating board rules, but will see. Here goes. No link available as not yet published. Feedback is welcome.

“At a time when the search for truth should be quicker and yield more trusted results than ever before, truth might be the most elusive it has ever been.”
-- Donnie Douglas

That’s right. I began today’s column quoting myself. Not bad, huh? Feel free to use with proper attribution.
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Why are you quoting yourself? That's simply alienating to readers and sets up the column -- as others have mentioned -- to come across as being like you. The list of columnists who quote themselves has very little overlap with the list of columnists that people don't think are assholes.

That line is a perfectly opening sentence on its own. Tweak it a little bit to shorten it -- the first clause is too long to be witty -- and you've got a great opening for your column. I'm serious. As a stand-alone line, it's a strong introduction. As quoting yourself, it's self-indulgent at best.

I would recommend something like, "Now that the human race has collectively spent trillions of dollars to make knowledge more widely available than ever, truth has never been more elusive."
 
superrific said:
Why are you quoting yourself? That's simply alienating to readers and sets up the column -- as others have mentioned -- to come across as being like you. The list of columnists who quote themselves has very little overlap with the list of columnists that people don't think are assholes.

That line is a perfectly opening sentence on its own. Tweak it a little bit to shorten it -- the first clause is too long to be witty -- and you've got a great opening for your column. I'm serious. As a stand-alone line, it's a strong introduction. As quoting yourself, it's self-indulgent at best.

I would recommend something like, "Now that the human race has collectively spent trillions of dollars to make knowledge more widely available than ever, truth has never been more elusive."
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I took it as humorous. Not self-indulgent. Who quotes themselves? Not saying super is wrong, just a different take.
 
heel79 said:
People who read my column know my style. It's very self-deprecating and they will get it. I think.
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It's still entirely unnecessary. I cannot imagine a universe in which it is better for you to quote yourself, than just open your column with that quote as topic sentence. If you were Thomas Friedman or George F Will (both of whom have, I think, done this) it might be different. But you are, of course, not them.

By quoting yourself, what you do is remove focus from the content of the "quote" and redirect it to the fact that you're quoting yourself. So this self-deprecation (incidentally, I do not agree with that characterization; it seems rather the opposite, but whatever) will be catching your reader's attention, as opposed to the content of what you say. And maybe that's fine for you. Personally, I would prefer people to focus on my substance and not on my self-referential messing around.

But what do I know? I'm only a professional writer, and obviously I don't care either way. Just offering some advice.
 
superrific said:
It's still entirely unnecessary. I cannot imagine a universe in which it is better for you to quote yourself, than just open your column with that quote as topic sentence. If you were Thomas Friedman or George F Will (both of whom have, I think, done this) it might be different. But you are, of course, not them.

By quoting yourself, what you do is remove focus from the content of the "quote" and redirect it to the fact that you're quoting yourself. So this self-deprecation (incidentally, I do not agree with that characterization; it seems rather the opposite, but whatever) will be catching your reader's attention, as opposed to the content of what you say. And maybe that's fine for you. Personally, I would prefer people to focus on my substance and not on my self-referential messing around.

But what do I know? I'm only a professional writer, and obviously I don't care either way. Just offering some advice.
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Heel79, after reading this I retract my comment. I am right and he is wrong. I can only imagine how lucky you are to get that kind of advice from a "professional writer", and for free at that.
 
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