A Ponderance

[Burgs]

So, I just came to thinking, what does it say about the "evolution" of our society that on October 30, 1938, when Orson Welles presented his now famous "The War of the Worlds" radio broadcast, many people thought it had to be a true that we were being attacked by Martians and went into a panic but on September 11, 2001, when many people saw the early footage of the World Trade Centre being hit by aeroplanes they initially assumed it had to be a movie?!

[travelling_gerry]

thats deep dude.....really like....deep.

[Burgs]

Well, at least it doesn't involve Giteau...
Amazing what comes to mind when you are driving around the countryside!

[travelling_gerry]

like when you drive past road works and wonder how steam rollers really rolled steam?

[Darren]

People are becoming more cynical - which also explains the ongoing Giteau debate...

[slomo]

i like your thinking burgs!...

[fulvio sammut]

Giteau? who's Giteau?

And Burgs, when I first heard the War of the Worlds live back in '38 I always knew it was fictional. ....

[mudskipper]

Untruths and Paradoxes

Technology is faster than the eye…all content is true and all content is fiction…example

Documentary Fiction – Mike Moore’s “Bowling for Columbine”,

[beige]

People are becoming more cynical - which also explains the ongoing Giteau debate...

I like to think it means that people are less easily duped...

[travelling_gerry]

Yet many actually believe stuff they see on TV too....eg Today Tonight/ACA

[zimeric]

its called sensationalism.
if there is a story that might sell newspapers, magazines etc then it will be written regardless of the truth.
If there is a sliver of doubt that can be manipulated to meet someones agenda then it will be used.

One only has to listen to Robert Mugabe for 2 minutes to understand how twisted the truth can become and how difficult it is for the naive public to make informed decisions about what is true and what is bovine excretment.

[Burgs]

True Zim, especially in the instance you give, however taking it back to the original question, in the 30's the population were open to believing a seemingly absurd notion of a Martian attack where as in the 00's people questioned their own eyes in seeing an aircraft crash into a building because it was apparently too much to comprehend as fact.
My father for one, an extremely rational man, admitted to flicking the TV on in the early hours and thinking along the lines of "wow, that's pretty realistic". It was only after about five minutes he realised it wasn't a movie but a genuine news report.
We were in the middle of mustering here so well in bed when it happened and only heard the radio at smoko, but all of us hearing it immediately "knew" it to be a major historical event.

[Cowboy]

Partly it tells us how desensitised we are by what we see on television

[Burgs]

I'm guessing this will be right at the forefront of your thinking for the next couple of milkings Cowboy
Bit like when you are cutting hay or following a mob of cattle.
Country folk just pretend to be dumb so as to allow you city types to feel superior haha!

[Flamethrower]

like when you drive past road works and wonder how steam rollers really rolled steam?

I've always wondered what the steam does to the roads and why they have to roll it in