Links and Headlines: Dark Skies; Misinformation; Critical Thinking; Empathy; Headlines

There have been a handful of SF novels over the years that include as breaks between the prose sets of futuristic news headlines, to indicate the state of the future world without having to explicate it in detail. Gunn’s The Listeners did this; I’m thinking John Brunner’s Stand on Zanzibar and The Shockwave Rider did this, though I haven’t looked closely at these books in years. (I’ll update/correct these comments as necessary.)

I’m thinking to refine some posts here simply to provide headlines that indicate the current zeitgeist, without needing explanation. But not for today, exactly.

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Treehugger, 1May20: The World’s 11 Certified Dark Sky Reserves, Where the Stars Run Riot

From a year and a half ago, but still useful. One is in Idaho, the only one in the US.

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The Atlantic, Saahil Desai, 27Sep21: Misinformation Is About to Get So Much Worse, subtitled, “A conversation with the former Google CEO Eric Schmidt”

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The New Daily (Australia), 25Jul21: Conspiracy theorists lack critical thinking skills: New study

‘They’re out to get us’ – or so the theory goes

Conspiracy theories are nothing new, but they have greater reach and intensity with the advent of social media.

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The Atlantic, Tom Nichols, 4Aug21: The Myth of the Golden Years, subtitled, “Whether economic times are good or bad, the lament for the old days of factories and mills never changes.”

May have linked this before; it’s from August. Still, an inescapable facet of human nature.

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Patheos/DaylightAtheism, 29Sep21, Adam Lee: Christians Against Empathy

Can’t copy from this site, but you can link to it.

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Just Headlines:

Salon: Instead of just getting vaccinated, anti-vaxxers are drinking iodine antiseptic, subtitled “Side effects of ingesting Betadine can range from stomach pain to burning of one’s gastrointestinal tract”

The Atlantic: No, Vaccinated People Are Not ‘Just as Likely’ to Spread the Coronavirus as Unvaccinated People, subtitled, “This has become a common refrain among the cautious—and it’s wrong.”

Alternet: ‘You got a problem?’: Joe Manchin gets suddenly defensive when asked about his fossil fuel interests

Media Matters: Fox’s antivax programming is a moral abomination, but at least it’s “great for ratings”