onfocus

"I feel like these videos are a very good way for me to get out this thing within me that likes things that feel like a magic trick: You’re not expecting this thing to happen, so when it does, it’s a little rush of dopamine."

One of the best Internet traditions. Thanks for all the dopamine, Demi!

When you hear who Q of the conspiracy theory really is it kind of kills the mystique and makes the whole thing seem silly. PJ Vogt does some nice work here going to the origins of the mass delusion in the darker corners of the Internet.

"Our students in general have been extremely mindful of health issues and I hope that continues, not only for students but for community members throughout the county."

No, the university made the decision to open campus in a pandemic with full knowledge that outbreaks are happening at campuses across the country. They are risking the health of the community and they shouldn’t frame it as up to the students.

Jason connects conspiracy thinking with Hannah Arendt and it is depressing.

If everybody always lies to you, the consequence is not that you believe the lies, but rather that nobody believes anything any longer.

I have to hope that some strain of American skepticism still exists somewhere but it definitely feels like it's fading in the face of social media peer groups.

"Scientists think that millions of years ago, Venus actually had oceans of liquid water like Earth. At some point, however, a runaway greenhouse effect turned Venus into the inhospitable world it is today, with a surface temperature hot enough to melt lead."

Hey, no Earth spoilers! AND: I, for one, welcome our phosphine belching neighbors.

"When she asked the company to do more in terms of finding and stopping malicious activity related to elections and political activity, she said she was told that “human resources are limited.” And when she was ordered to stop focusing on civic work, “I was told that Facebook would no longer have further need for my services if I refused.”"

Facebook the company is coordinated inauthentic behavior.

"The rise in conspiratorial thinking is the product of several interrelated trends: declining trust in institutions; demise of local news; a social-media environment that makes rumor easy to spread and difficult to debunk; a President who latches onto anything and anyone he thinks will help his political fortunes."

Saying that conspiracy believers are inoculated from new information is a terrifying way to put it. But yeah, it’s a cult.

"More than a half dozen of the worst fires in the state will continue burning and requiring active firefighting “until winter rains fall,” the state’s expert cautioned."

The fires here aren’t something that will be done quickly.

"Apple’s tracking permission dialog is something no sane person would agree to because this sort of tracking is something no sane person would agree to."

We agree to it every time we use the Internet with default settings. Changing defaults will cause some pain but it’s necessary.

With The West on fire, you might need a good visualization of where fires are and where smoke is headed.