Preservation of America's Wildlife

Tag: philosophy

  • Pathological Liars, Ranchers, Hunters, and Trappers, Their Narrative to Exist in Question

    Who controls the past, controls the future: who controls the present controls the past. — Geo. Orwell, 1984

    He Who Controls the Narrative Controls the People — thereby, we need to peruse the difference between proaghanda, truth, disinformation, and outright lies. Are these lies we speak of here, innocent, or extraordinarily harmful. We find them Destructive, and here is why . . .

    We currently confront head-on, the fact there are so many exaggerations, and outright lies, given to the General American Public, about Our Nation’s Keystone Predators. First and foremost, we discover evidence, and a lot of it, which points us too, one significant outlet for the exaggerations and lies to be developed; thereby, a widespread outlet of disinformation(deliberately deceptive falsehoods), misinformation (inaccurate information circulated regardless of intent), propaganda, & fabrications. 

    We can also find such groups of people, i.e. Ranching, Hunting, and Trapping groups in particular, the ultimate providers of these myths; or, the information-base of such activity, they partake in, under the guise of Cultural Heritage, or worse, Tradition. 

    We do not develop this information, from neither “conspiracy-theory”, nor, any type of expansion of “group-notoriety” in a specified manner of delivery, of these aggressive exaggerations & lies; but rather, informal story-telling situations (bar rooms, campfire stories, across the counter and quick story at stores, or exaggerated stories passed on from one-person-to-another in a normal “he said – she said” conversation. We then go into the dramatic-form of storytelling, in magazines and other media, books, or movies, often the news.

    This is where Myth takes on the demeanor of Reality.  The tales become more exaggerated over time, and we find belief systems, over the same amount of time, makes the exaggerations and lies prominent, or what we refer to as, a truth. Government agencies and politicians tremendously guilty of this, as well. And the science they discuss, at times, often nothing more than elaborate lies to achieve their own end-goal = $$$, and to their supporters. But this discussion establishes yet other parameters of the over-all context — and how exaggeration a lies effect us directly.

    In psychology, a lie becoming a perceived truth is primarily driven by the “illusory truth effect”, where the brain confuses familiarity with accuracy. When a falsehood is repeated, it becomes easier to process, tricking the brain into believing it is valid even when the person initially knew it was false.  By the time someone else, told the exaggeration or lie as well, speaks with another who heard the same lie, it then becomes a truth . . .

    The primary psychological terms for widespread, chronic lying and severe exaggeration, in this case-discussion (which ultimately promotes Fear-Based nonsense), and in regard to Wildlife-Predator-Behavior and Predator-Prey Relationships, essentially promote a Fear-Based Rational for killing them, are — “Pseudologia fantastica”and “Mythomania”.

    Both categories refer to a persistent behavioral pattern where individuals compulsively craft elaborate, often fantastical narratives about their experiences. And who was there to say different? Often, we find the disconnect in the communication, between truth and exaggeration & lies, when there are no immediate external motives. Why would they lie? 

    This is where we separate the Illusory Truth Effect, and understand how it is accomplished.  Repeated exposure to a claim increases its “processing fluency” (how easily the brain absorbs the information). Over time, the brain mistakes this feeling of familiarity for factual evidence, causing people to accept the lie, as a truth.

    But there exist other, more complex arrangements, in the human mind, we refer to as Source Amnesia. As memories age, we often remember the core fact, or statement, but forget where or from whom we originally heard it. If a individual forgets they fabricated the story, it integrates into their memory as a genuine event.  Suddenly, the fellow in Wyoming who made the Statement, “Grizzley Bears are killing everything and everybody around them, out on the Range,” becomes reality in his mind. 

    Even though the evidence of Bear, or even Wolf Predation, so small statistically, or, in many cases completely non-existent in many areas.  The reality is quite real, as it conflicts directly with his story.

    Yet the truth becomes transitory, or, ignored information, rather than accepting it as evidence, which directly contradicts his claim of Grizzley Bears (or Wolves) becoming, via habituation or desensitization, or extraordinarily running wild, and we are all going to die if we allow it to continue.

    Awkwardly, at best, in steps the Hero’s.  Or, they want us to believe this to be true. This is where “Reality” clashes directly with “Myth”!  “Step aside, Little Missy, we’re gonna Save Ya.”  After all, they call themselves Conservationists, and they are there to Harvest (Kill actually) the over-population (which does not exist due to yearly over-killing of the Predator Species) of Grizz, or Wolves, or, even Wild Horses.

    Now we explore this further, and find another Psychological Disorder of Confabulation. This is the unconscious filling of memory gaps with fabricated, made-up, or misinterpreted information. It is common in trauma and certain neurological or personality disorders.

    The brain alters reality to protect the ego, and the person genuinely believes the invented narrative is exactly what happened.  All of the sudden, these innocent Story-Telling venues around the campfire, or in the Bar for the Boy’s to hear, i.e. Pathological Narcissism of Bravado, becomes a not so innocent situation.  Their actions motivate others to Kill Wildlife, to kill Bear, Cougar, Wolves, et al., and yes, even Horses.

    Suddenly, we find these people, or groups, in the world of Self-Deception & Cognitive Dissonance . . . They avoid the mental discomfort (dissonance) of holding contradictory beliefs, as individuals do, unconsciously, alter their own perceptions. By convincing themselves of the lie, they relieve internal anxiety and align their thoughts with their actions.  People hearing these lies, over and over again, and we find why many of us who study Communication, and the narrow deceptions from those who Control the Narrative, to be extraordinarily deceptive. 

    The Narrative becomes erroneous, as we see the destruction, ever-present within our Natural Environment and Wilderness Areas.  Whereas, many people only surmise the usefulness of terms such as Harvesting Wildlife to Control Over-Population of Wildlife, and it being something that Conservationists do for Our Society and Culture. 

    Well, it’s all based upon “exaggerations and outright lies”, so yes, we have a problem here, and Our Wilderness Areas as well as our Wildlife, those coming close to be endangered as a species, suffers for those False-Narratives given to the Public.

    What does this all come down to? We can try to be polite, but there are too many lives at stake, to actually care any longer, about being polite – We are observing our Natural Ecology and Wildlife being destroyed, due to what we can call, directly — Pseudologia Fantastica (Pathological Lying). . . 

    This is a clinical condition characterized by chronic, often fantastical storytelling that exceeds clear external motives. Although, we can point out, from results we see, there are motives that do exist for the groups mentioned in this discussion.

    We find just within this discussion, motive. Demeaning & killing Wildlife and pointedly, outright destruction of our Public Lands, to such a point, we do not have to feel guilty for our obvious abuse and destruction of it.  After all, these groups, our Nation believes are Heros (but statistically that is no longer true, as well), Ranchers, Hunters, Trappers, et al. While some liars know they are deceiving others, chronic retelling can blur the boundary between conscious deceit and delusion, leading the individual to intermittently believe their own elaborate stories.  Attritional, those who listen to them, become the actual victims, of deception and deceit. 

    A good example of this, is when we wander through Our Nation’s Public Lands, even within the National Park Systems. Keep in mind, truthfully, it was developed for Wilderness areas to achieve high-standards of Wildlife Habitats and clean environments, for the common American to camp and enjoy seeing things they would never see in their daily lives.  These Lands were set-aside for that, and now being invaded, by Hunting, Trapping, and Ranching lies and deceptions (to put it simply), in their move to control the Narrative, making what they do appear a Positive Situation, rather than what it is, which are very Destructive situations, indeed.

    FACT: Sooner, than later, much of our wilderness areas as well as zones, or habitats, for our Wildlife to reside and live safely, will no longer exist. A Fact.” – John Cox, M.A. C/M

  • Reality versus Propaganda and Propaganda is Winning

    An Article by
    John Cox, M.A. C/M

    “We live in a period, of communication, when “Branding”, or the concept of a “Commercialized Identity”, is used dishonestly. But how does it affect us, since we are within the categorical framework of “The General Public.” We are manipulated daily by the media.  It is then, we are referenced as “The General Public”, or becoming nothing more than a statistic – a demographic (i.e. a continued assault upon personal identity, and they are winning — We have to obtain the “Truth” ourselves, yet we accept their version only — $$$$ over humanity). 

    Evidence?  How many times have we seen the politician, or the corporate Administrator, or hunting, trapping, and ranching people state, (as they continue the obvious destruction by them, of our environment and wildlife, Wolves & Wild Horses among others, daily and unnecessarily), or make believe, I should say, it is beneficial and tell us, “It is humane, because it makes the State $-Billions’ of dollars a year, and we feed the World.” Yup, they want us to believe their less than 1% of Public Lands Beef Sales, compared to the overall Commercialized beef industry percentage of 98.7%, yearly in sales, is feeding the World.

    Which, their statement is a lie, and after years of feeding the General Public disinformation from all-out propaganda campaigns, laughingly obvious.  More troubling is their embellished, statistical pie-charts here, and there, and ultimately the bigger pie-chart; as if the smaller pie-charts less truthful, and the largest pie-chart supposed to be more truthful than all those small, troublesome pie-charts —  and their comments, or pie-charts and statistics, never supported with credible evidence.

    Communication today has evolved into an agenda of powerful-propaganda-campaigns, disguised as advertising (yet another systematic approach to the individuals identity theft) is all attributes, to sell to the public, not products, directly anyway, but the people or company involved in manufacturing products or services.  Obviously, the communication conflict arises when the people, the producer or manufacturer of a product, or, the sport we discuss, are in conflict with Truth. 

    How does this “truth” become so wayward.  How is it we accept toxic chemicals as beneficial, and yet, many more people make fun of those who demand healthier products, and make threats, hatefully, toward those who are asking honest questions about obvious toxic and poison products; or, pointing out skinning an animal, like a Mink while still alive, to be abusive and inhumane?

    Or baiting wildlife only to shoot them?  Yet, the sport of hunting & trapping is accepted by many, and of course accepted by the family & friends, or else!  As those who do not accept it, trouble right around the corner (especially when living in small towns, and social politics in play) they will be disdained, lose friends, and even face brutality, or worse, death?  Where does such a gap become reality, and why & how did the truth simply disappear?  Should we be concerned about this . . .  Much more information available, with evidence, which this above is only the tip of the iceberg, so to speak.

    “The identity of the individual was long ago subsumed by the Spectre of the public.” — Soren Kierkegaard, M.A. Philosophy

    We can explore this phenomenon that describes the erosion of selfhood through mass attention.  As the boundary between private individual, and the public gaze, dissolves.  People become, essentially what they are not, but images of what the public accepts (i.e. often from the latest motion picture, or the current musician or . . .); whereas, some folks take the movie or television program as reality. . .

    The same with groups, well, they become the images of a past, whether it be heritage, or myth, or formal disinformation centered around themselves, changing history entirely – Academically, we refer to it as “historical revisionism or historical negationism”.  Others simply refer to it as a “deliberate distortion or falsification” of history.  

    Heavy-Adventure programs, especially westerns, are evidence of how history is changed, in today’s “Escapist Environment.”  And nobody the wiser, or even curious, as the dramatic elements of the storyline, soothing at times, or an adventure we would never, in reality, come close to, and yet, there we were taking part, mentally, within it all.

    We then become the “Targets” (yup, The General Public), so to speak, of “industrial-commercialization” as well as “Identity-Theft” and “Identity Politics” (as one does not function without the other) for fear of being disliked, or hated, by our group of peers; whereas, the “Product” of the Disinformation (i.e. an altered history of disinformation, or, both assimilated into what they want us to believe, and ultimately the statistics show us — becomes the ultimate truth).

    Yes, Advertising, then, becomes a reality. Implications toward several levels of psychology apply here.  The fact is, a “truthful” individual has no chance of survival.  The General Public is taught, via Propaganda (i.e. Advertising), that what was, in truth, a miscommunicated-rendition of life, yet given to the public to exploit a false rendition of heritage or history, turns into a ‘Truth”.  This is where, for some, the “mythologized public images” first seen, often  manipulated to sell a product, yes, but subliminally (a vast history of this situation exists) to develop hatred toward those who would disagree.  The basis, or premise established, simply for sales-origination, ultimately for high-level incomes. 

    We can intermix the commercialized versions, and place them into the false-reality category, as well, within a group format – i.e. hunting, trapping, ranching, et al. This is the process where the formation of groups to maintain their dishonest appeal, making what they are doing (skinning animals alive, killing wildlife unnecessarily, slaughtering predators, shooting wild horses, et al.) and making it all appear acceptable; thereby, at times, needed (e.g. the false statements of Population Controls, where the outright falsehood, becomes an acceptable “Truth”).

    This becomes the opposition, and the mis-use of terminology takes place – Yet, in good propaganda, our attention is re-directed toward the oppositional challenge; whereas, death becomes a tool — yet, we can disconnect from the reality, and keep our proper-distance where we maintain the thought, it is needed for the betterment of the social-majority = Sacrificed for the good of . . .

    1. Harvesting Wildlife rather than use of the term Kill, Murder, or Slaughter;
    2. Fallacies when debating or arguing or twisting meanings;
    3. Equivocation is using the same word with different meanings;
    4. False Equivalency used often today, in politics and hate-speech, draws incorrect parallels between two vastly different situations;
    5. False     Dilemma is framing an issue with only two extreme options, when indeed, many other possibilities exist;
    6. Ignoring Facts and Credible Science & Statistics.

    Today we see Destructive Commercialization taking place, forced upon our Public Lands.  Those involved wrap themselves in what they refer to as Heritage, or Historical Value (until we research the myth, the lies, and used only to subordinate, disenfranchise the public, or to spread fear). 

    We no longer even bother ourselves to Evolve with, or alongside Nature. i.e. Ranching, Hunting, Trapping, Corporate Greed, Mining, and other elements of Special Interests, and how they evolved into a status of non-compliance, many seem to avoid, or do not care enough to be concerned – as the destruction out of site, because the commercialized news only generates news of dramatic forms – to sell products, in accord with the Demographics from the General Public. Neglect of Regulatory Measures to safeguard the General Public, simply does not exist.

    What is troubling to many one week, is forgotten by the next week, if no form of updates given on a regular basis — What the News is supposed to give us, but do not do so.

    This statement, “The identity of the individual was long ago subsumed by the Spectre of the public.” — Soren Kierkegaard, M.A. Philosophy, captures how the privatization of experience and the policing of digital or institutional conformity often eclipse personal heritage. It reflects modern struggles with hyper-visibility, where unique, lived realities are swallowed by broad, performative public personas or a “cancel” culture.

    This concept touches on how a person’s authentic inner self is often eclipsed by the expectations and scrutiny of society. When an individual becomes a public figure or spectacle, or a Group becomes extremely large (monetarily wholesome, and pays vast advertising dollars), their private life gets replaced by a societal “Spectre”—a constructed identity that is consumed and defined by the masses rather than the person themselves.

    When a group runs into a problematic negative feedback, from their situations, i.e. Pro-Slaughter Groups or Experimental Pesticide Groups experimenting on our Nation’s Wild Horses with toxic chemicals while calling it “fertilization control”, and it becomes obviously a lie — they simply change the name of the Group. A new form of proaghanda / advertising takes place.

    This dynamic is widely explored across literature, history, and psychoanalysis.  We indulge ourselves into the realms of escape, but do not provide room for Our Endeavors beyond personal satisfaction, comfort, of what we can do comfortably, and without much thought or effort, at times.  To many, Nature and wildlife exist only within a zoo, or the local park, and when wanting to feel really wild, perhaps walk the dog near at dog park. 

    Many assume keeping the squirrels out of their hot dogs, or the Raccoons out of the Vienna Sausage cans, they just opened and set near the picnic table, to be enough inter-action with wildlife for the next few months.  And killing Deer, or Bear, or Cougar, when they see it on a television program, and advertised as a Manly Adventure, becomes their reality of Nature, and Man’s quest to Survive the Elements – after all, it is presented within a dramatic outline! A storyline, displaced by adventure and intensity from the drama, the music, all building to its crescendo, and to the ultimate-needed needed commercial.

    Now we are looking at AI!  It is devastating our landscapes, and only a few more healthy landscapes exists.  Soon, if allowed to build more, our landscape will be denuded of water, forests, and wildlife in total. 

    This is not a story in the movies or on television.  It is Reality.  Are we really prepared for a future of more and more lies, faked-heritage as well as faked-history, as a tool for Wilderness and Wildlife Management? “  — John Cox, M.A. C/M