Reading Response three

I felt genuinely upset about the guy who passed away quicker in part due to the "quaks" pill. I wonder if I were ever THAT desperate if I would try some weirdo's idea of a cure. False advertisement, implying, hidden agendas, this is what our advertisement industry is all about. The politician references in this chapter felt almost trivial to mention. We all know the politicians are corrupt and create angles that imply wrong things on one another during campaign time. Its a cut throat society. The whole story in the begining of the chapter about the guy who tried to beat the taxes system by having his money sent to off shore accounts. In his testimony he said he didn't know it was illegal and the judge said it was obvious the IRS wouldn't allow anyone to do this, and then booked him. Crazy. Its crazy we as Americans have to look out for scammers like these because honestly some of us are that ignorant. However, he didn't ask anyone in a specialized field, like a lawyer, about his idea of how to get around taxes. The chapter ends with a sort of disclaimer. The correct information is out there, we as independent citizens, just have to sort through all the crap to get it. Furthermore, we have to know how and where to get it, and to check our sources. 

Chapter 4 reading response

This chapter was interesting. It appealed to me more than the other chapters because to an extent it made sense. The text stated we as humans see what we want to see, hear what we want to hear, and believe what we want to believe, despite what may actually be. There are many instances in life where I have chosen to believe something, even though there was doubt in my mind. Furthermore, the perception of certain things in life vary between individuals. For example, in my own life, an argument between myself and my older brother. His description of what he said and what I said was dramatically different than how I remembered it. Even in professional sports today, there is always one referee who sees a play differently than the others. Misconceptions are easily made, however, if we as humans agree with the misconceptions in our heads we may just take them as truth. This chapter demonstrates through the example of how the fans of the Princeton versus Dartmouth game perceived the roughness of the game. The data demonstrated the Princeton fans viewed many more plays that included rough play in comparison to the Dartmouth fans who saw few. How one experiences life is based off of how they perceive things which makes facts seem almost relative in truth value. 

First Response to un-spun

After reading the first chapter, I was astounded by what the text stated. It was interesting how easy the beauty industry can manipulate us into believing MAC is indeed better than CVS brand eye-liner, yet all brands are made with the same chemicals. A MAC eye pencil is at least $20 in comparison to the CVS brand which could be as cheap as $1. Its remarkable to me to find that Listerine does not genuinely cure bad breath or be substituted for flossing. Advertising is all a misconception and this text surely demonstrates that. The media takes advantage of how ignorant the public is to certain facts about things. The book also talks about how Michael Moore's movie on the events of 9/11 mislead the viewers on many topics. More specifically, the book focuses on the flights of the Bin Laden family out of the country shortly after 9/11. The book describes in detail how Moore "spins" the information to make it seem one way but does not blatantly say it that way. This reading leaves me at a loss. I knew marketing, advertising, and media twisted information and that the government does not properly regulate all of the false ideas portrayed. However, it is disheartening to know that companies are permitted to "imply" anything, even though it is wrong, as long as they don't blatantly say it. It contradicts the definition of a lie. Is a lie omitting details in order to determine truth? Or is a lie omitting any truth whatsoever?