DiscussMormonism.com

https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/M ... 01731.html

What is this? Three mass shootings in 24 hours?

The crazy thing is no matter how many mass shootings there are half this country is so obsessed with owning their guns we can't even begin to discuss the one practical solution that would actually decrease the amount of gun-related deaths we suffer in this country.

Bananas.

- Doc

From USA Today:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nat ... 913486001/

251 mass shootings in 216 days.

- Doc

So, I kind of hate to admit it because being informed is half the battle to figure out what's going on, but yesterday and today I've been going to 4/chan and 8/chan to figure out, I dunno, the culture (?) of these forums to understand how they think, communicate, joke around, encourage one another, and everything in between. This thread from 8/chan is a typical and fairly active discussion:

https://8ch.net/leftypol/res/2958871.html

This is our new reality. It's a fundamentally semi-literate, almost stream of consciousness meme producing recursivity where conversation isn't, in my opinion, the underpinned emphasis, but rather, again in my opinion, it's theater. Sheer unadulterated theater. And that's how hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of young people are transmitting ideas from one to the other.

I think this is why Trump is so successful with this crowd (and conversely why antifa/Leftists who post on these forums) because he doesn't communicate like an adult, but rather he communicates like a meme. He's good at transmitting ideas through theater where logic, pragmatism, and structure mean next to nothing, and idea-generating, quick-punch statements, and imagery is used with incredible effectiveness.

I think this is going to be the challenge for us moving forward. How do we adapt to how people communicate on the Internet, across social media, and through forums that encourage theater rather than dialogue?

- Doc

Trump’s success, which was quite marginal, is more owed to very old people and middle aged whites. These groups aren’t known for being extremely online, and to the extent they are, it’s more about sharing boomer-appealing memes on Facebook done in the style of political chain emails.

While they may be a notable subgroup, irony-poisoned edgelords speaking modern message board jargon aren’t driving Trump’s support. It’s interesting to know why the pro-Trump version of them exist, but if only people their age voted, Republicans would be lucky to win any national offices at all.

Cable news continues to be the much bigger problem.

I think this is why Trump is so successful with this crowd... because he doesn't communicate like an adult, but rather he communicates like a meme.

Outside the context of my OP, I don't think winning the Presidency is a marginally successful accomplishment.

- Doc

Doctor CamNC4Me wrote:From USA Today:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nat ... 913486001/

251 mass shootings in 216 days.

- Doc

Yep. The View cast mentioned this a week or so ago. We're averaging more than one a day.

Doctor CamNC4Me wrote:So, I kind of hate to admit it because being informed is half the battle to figure out what's going on, but yesterday and today I've been going to 4/chan and 8/chan to figure out, I dunno, the culture (?) of these forums to understand how they think, communicate, joke around, encourage one another, and everything in between. This thread from 8/chan is a typical and fairly active discussion:

https://8ch.net/leftypol/res/2958871.html

This is our new reality. It's a fundamentally semi-literate, almost stream of consciousness meme producing recursivity where conversation isn't, in my opinion, the underpinned emphasis, but rather, again in my opinion, it's theater. Sheer unadulterated theater. And that's how hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of young people are transmitting ideas from one to the other.

I think this is why Trump is so successful with this crowd (and conversely why antifa/Leftists who post on these forums) because he doesn't communicate like an adult, but rather he communicates like a meme. He's good at transmitting ideas through theater where logic, pragmatism, and structure mean next to nothing, and idea-generating, quick-punch statements, and imagery is used with incredible effectiveness.

I think this is going to be the challenge for us moving forward. How do we adapt to how people communicate on the Internet, across social media, and through forums that encourage theater rather than dialogue?

- Doc

Carl Jung used to speak of Hitler speaking to the 'collective unconscious' of the German people. Trump isn't the cause of the simmering paranoia, but he appears to be ready, willing and able to be the spark to ignite it.

This is the information age, it is not the knowledge age. If you are not fully informed by knowledge, that's okay, because there are enough people out there to act as a support group to explain why their lack of development and knowledge is really the correct worldview. And if you buy a gun, that gun isn't making you more powerful until you use it. If you are a young man, bewildered by the world and looking for purpose and meaning, buy a gun, and the purpose to use it will eventually come to you.

Doctor CamNC4Me wrote:

I think this is why Trump is so successful with this crowd... because he doesn't communicate like an adult, but rather he communicates like a meme.

Outside the context of my OP, I don't think winning the Presidency is a marginally successful accomplishment.

- Doc

He lucked into it in a number of regards and just barely. That’s why I described him as marginally successful. He is not a popular demogogue. He’s a deeply unpopular one who has managed to fail upward through some good breaks.

If you are trying to explain his appeal, you first have to grapple with the fact that he isn’t all that appealing. That was the theme of my response. Among meme literate 20-something’s, he’s basically cancer. There’s of course a subculture where this isn’t true, but you cannot explain why white 70 year olds like the guy by looking at that culture.

Every day I start with CNN when I begin reading the news. I don't know why, it's conveniently laid out so I guess that's why I start there.

This Chicago mass shooting isn't even in the headlines on the front page of their website.

Wth.