Bias In America: Grow Up

[JMHX]

I am sick and tired of hearing the same complaints ad nauseum:

The academic system is liberal slanted
News is liberal slanted
Radio is liberal slanted
Television is liberal slanted
Fox is conservative slanted
The Washington Post is conservative slanted

Stop it. Stop it right now. Grow up, all of you. Each and every one of you has a brain that is operating at a sufficient level to form words like OMG and "lol communist," you have enough brain power to figure out that nothing should ever be trusted 100% of the time, nothing can be fully objective. Nor should it be. God forbid news and television and professors encourage you to think and debate and argue a little bit, you know, kind of like how universities used to be when they actually did something worthwhile for the country and didn't simply become symbols of social status.

You know what I find? You know what's interesting? Conservatives, when confronted with what they seem to think is this liberal media onslaught, cry victim. Yes, the people in control of the governorships, Congress, White House and increasingly the courts and state legislatures are saying their message isn't getting out to people.

STOP WHINING. Stop it. Why don't you all use the media's bias and professors' points to make a worthwhile debate through letters to the editor or office hours? Use your brain outside the goddamned track, don't expect everything to be fed to you through some purportedly objective IV. Stop thinking that everything unbiased is an attack on your ideology, an attempt to influence you to vote one way, as if YOUR vote is worth all of that time and effort.

Bias spurs debate, debate spurs thought, thought spurs involvement. Get the voting numbers up to what they used to be and then maybe there will be slightly more credibility to your incessant bitching.

[MoralLibertarian]

Good post. I agree, except what is there to debate?

[chaos-13037]

Well said!

There's always bias and always will be as long as humans are doing the reporting. Any news agency that claims objectivity is kidding itself. And the people that whine and bitch when something seems overly biased should stop and think; if you were able to spot it and don't agree with it, relax because most likely other people have picked up on it as well and the people that haven't aren't going to have their minds changed by someone like you!

[Manikan]

I just like to think of what my favorite book says(Ender's Shadow). Looking for mistakes isn't bad but saying them outloud is. just keep the knowledge of the bias to yourself then the other people who blindly believe this will be at a disadvantage.

[SkunkyFluffy]

At 4/13/06 08:50 PM, JMHX wrote: make a worthwhile debate

But, see, debate requires effort. And there's always the chance that one might lose. I mean, after all, college professors go to special classes on how to be more effective liberals. And how to screw conservative students' grades up so they never utter their opinions again.

Why would anyone be willing to risk a precious grade for the sake of argument?

In all seriousness, though, I have met many extremely liberal professors. I have also met a very few conservative ones. The thing that strikes me is, I have never been given an unfair grade because of disagreeing political views. It would be unprofessional to do so. If a professor is grading students based on whether or not they agree with him on a question of opinion, then he should not be teaching--no matter which side he's on.

[RedScorpion]

Nice post, JMHX.

Everyone needs stop identifying everything as either 'liberal' or 'conservative'. There are certainly much more dimensions and degrees of intrinsic value to everything in life than this two perpetuating things. Just as everyone has some bias, everything could supposedly be identified as 'liberal', or 'conservative'.

Everyone needs to stop being a trendwhore, now. ;-)

[WolvenBear]

At 4/13/06 08:50 PM, JMHX wrote: I am sick and tired of hearing the same complaints ad nauseum:

I agree with you to a point, but after a certain point, you are dead wrong.

The academic system is liberal slanted

Any teacher that attempt to teach their opinion to kids as gospel, especially off topic, needs to be fired.

News is liberal slanted

If the news is being slanted to deliberately portray the wrong message, then it needs to be called on it.

Radio is liberal slanted

Radio is conservative slanted.

Television is liberal slanted

k....

Fox is conservative slanted
The Washington Post is conservative slanted

See above...

Stop it. Stop it right now. Grow up, all of you. Each and every one of you has a brain that is operating at a sufficient level to form words like OMG and "lol communist," you have enough brain power to figure out that nothing should ever be trusted 100% of the time, nothing can be fully objective. Nor should it be. God forbid news and television and professors encourage you to think and debate and argue a little bit, you know, kind of like how universities used to be when they actually did something worthwhile for the country and didn't simply become symbols of social status.

Bull, don't even try and tell me that kids as young as 6th grade have the intelligence to know spin from objective fact. Most kids will take knowledge from an authority figure as gospel. Teachers are supposed to teach kids fact, not partisan crap (either way). And the news is supposed to tell us what's going on in the world, not "make us think". Just cause you're sick of the debate doesn't mean there's no validity to it.

You know what I find? You know what's interesting? Conservatives, when confronted with what they seem to think is this liberal media onslaught, cry victim. Yes, the people in control of the governorships, Congress, White House and increasingly the courts and state legislatures are saying their message isn't getting out to people.

Everybody cries victim. Now you're being sensationalist.

STOP WHINING. Stop it. Why don't you all use the media's bias and professors' points to make a worthwhile debate through letters to the editor or office hours? Use your brain outside the goddamned track, don't expect everything to be fed to you through some purportedly objective IV. Stop thinking that everything unbiased is an attack on your ideology, an attempt to influence you to vote one way, as if YOUR vote is worth all of that time and effort.

What? Are you high? Yes, a small print letter to the editor will grab someones attention. Look at the New York Times. Hell, most of the letters to the editor are in disagreement, but the Times hasn't changed. Sales drop, no change. Media is one of the easiest tools to influence people one way or the other. And don't even try to justify some Math professor shoving partisan BS down their student's throat either.

Bias spurs debate, debate spurs thought, thought spurs involvement. Get the voting numbers up to what they used to be and then maybe there will be slightly more credibility to your incessant bitching.

You know, everyone else congradulated you here, but I won't. This is nonsense. You take legitimate concerns and shrug them off. I teach dance. Should I start off class by praising Bush or Kerry god? Of course not. How would that relate to my teaching? It wouldn't. It's me trying to shove my views on the kids, and the parents would be right to be upset. Likewise, if the news is purposefully distorting the information to misinform people. I'm sorry, but this was just ridiculous. There will always be people that cry bias whenever they disagree, but to brush it off and say "who cares" when it comes to real bias is dumb too.

[JMHX]

If your brain is not sufficiently developed as to allow a math professor to tell you who to vote for - and you actually do what he says without question - I question whether you belong in a university at all, since your cognitive faculties have obviously not developed beyond the point where you actually listen to someone when they tell you how to vote.

Use your mind, don't expect the world to be fed to you in nice snack packs.

[SkunkyFluffy]

At 4/14/06 03:24 AM, JMHX wrote: Use your mind, don't expect the world to be fed to you in nice snack packs.

But they're so tasty!

[JMHX]

At 4/14/06 12:55 PM, SkunkyFluffy wrote:

At 4/14/06 03:24 AM, JMHX wrote: Use your mind, don't expect the world to be fed to you in nice snack packs.

But they're so tasty!

Tasty like mediocrity.

[Grammer]

At 4/13/06 11:36 PM, -Michael- wrote: Everything is biased. It's a human thing.

But I have a cat, my cat never shows bias. She'll attack anything that looks like a mouse.

o em gee that's bias against mice !!1111one1111

But seriously, bias is in human nature, it's inescapable (<-sp?)

On a side note, I've noticed more of the accusations JMHX gave as an example conservatives tend to use... THIS THREAD IS LIBERALLY BIASED!!

[Gunter45]

At 4/14/06 03:28 PM, Grammer wrote: THIS THREAD IS LIBERALLY BIASED!!

Oh fuck! We need to throw out the entire argument, then.

I know you're being facetious, Grammer, but you bring up a point. A lot of people, when detecting bias in an argument, are quick to dismiss the entire thing, unwilling to pick apart the truth, half truth, and the spin. Every argument has a shred of truth, every rational argument, that is, and it's up to the citizenry to be able to judge for themselves how much or how little truth that may be.

Then again, the general populace, like the General forum, consists chiefly of retards.

ZOMG, c wut aye did thar?

[Demosthenez]

At 4/13/06 08:50 PM, JMHX wrote: Bias spurs debate, debate spurs thought, thought spurs involvement. Get the voting numbers up to what they used to be and then maybe there will be slightly more credibility to your incessant bitching.

Not when 90% of the class agrees with this persons ideas and the other 10% dont want to say anything in fear of angering friends or being labeled. In my experience, I have seen these "debates" turn into a liberal ego masturbation and Bush bash. Nothing enlightening, just people spouting off random crap.

At 4/14/06 03:24 AM, JMHX wrote: Use your mind, don't expect the world to be fed to you in nice snack packs.

I think advocacy journalism would be the best solution. Ive always thought if you are open with your bias, it makes you more credible as an author because you are open with your beliefs. I think open bias in the media would be a WONDERFUL thing.

However, defending Professors who intentionally try to slant topics or give their little opinoins on politics when they are in an improper place, is wrong. Yes, I am smart enough to see through his opinions and form my own.

But his opinions are still being broadcast in an improper place. There is no defending that.

[Quriky]

I agree not everythin is so black and white good and bad liberil and conseverivtive

Melting pot people MELTING POT!!!