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Originally Posted by Bill14564
The article seemed to cover both of those questions with a good level of detail.
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As to your question: Why do people insist on making claims without looking them up first, do they really think no one will check? Proof by emphatic assertion rarely works.
IMHO, they do it in a desperate attempt to appear "knowledgeable"; well educated, informed, well read, to feel they have value (in a society that values less and less all the time). YES, absolutely they believe no one will check, and that actually few even have the skills to do more than a surface "scan" of yahoo or twitter feeds for their "facts". Emotional assertion, they DO believe, works, and honestly, watching the "news" from a variety of sources on the various net works, and in print, seems to support the theory that emphatic assertion DOES work, even works WELL. When one insists that individuals entering a country via illegal means are being beaten, whipped, by brutal border guards carrying whips on horseback... and passionately assert that as truth, when any experienced rider, especially of western style neck reining, knows exactly how a rider uses the reins (also spelled "reigns" by some) to control a horse. Would be nearly impossible to control the horse and at the same time use the reins to whip human beings ! If you ride, you know this ! Emphatic assertion ? I think it does work as does "repetition", repeat it enough, no matter how absurd, never stop, and people WILL believe it !