Planting doubt
In the last few months I've encountered first a documentary film, then a question that made me double-take. On the surface they seemed innocent, or even positive, but both had an underlying implication of doubt that disturbed me.
The documentary film was An Inconvenient Truth. At face value, it seemed like a good and necessary documentary in the struggle to convince a brainwashed America that global warming is indeed real. But if Al Gore was arguing so vehemently, didn't that mean that it was possible that global warming wasn't real?
The Jan. 1, 2007 cover of Newsweek magazine asked (and I paraphrase) "Is America ready for a non-Caucasian or a female president?" I was horrified; asking the question seemed to imply that we weren't ready. How could a news magazine be so blatantly biased?
When Newsweek asks us if we're ready for a female president, or a documentary tries so hard to convince us of something, what impression are we ultimately left with? As our brains ponder the data, do they carefully separate the bias from the issue, or does everything meld into a smoky haze of indistinct memory....something about global warming being real or not....and something about America being racist and sexist....
The documentary film was An Inconvenient Truth. At face value, it seemed like a good and necessary documentary in the struggle to convince a brainwashed America that global warming is indeed real. But if Al Gore was arguing so vehemently, didn't that mean that it was possible that global warming wasn't real?
The Jan. 1, 2007 cover of Newsweek magazine asked (and I paraphrase) "Is America ready for a non-Caucasian or a female president?" I was horrified; asking the question seemed to imply that we weren't ready. How could a news magazine be so blatantly biased?
When Newsweek asks us if we're ready for a female president, or a documentary tries so hard to convince us of something, what impression are we ultimately left with? As our brains ponder the data, do they carefully separate the bias from the issue, or does everything meld into a smoky haze of indistinct memory....something about global warming being real or not....and something about America being racist and sexist....
Labels: Personal philosophy
posted by Jeffrey Stuart Martin on Monday, January 08, 2007
1 Comments:
I don't think that it is an implied doubt- unfortunatley, both the article and the documentary respond to real doubt within the public at large. Does it validate the doubt to address it? How else could Gore respond to an administration that consistently denied scientific evidence and continually propigated doubt about global warming?
Adam
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