An honest question for those in charge here!

What action, if any, will be taken against those who are promoting the October 14th event? As it's almost October 15th in some places, barely October 14th in some places, no one has seen anything remotely similar to what Blossom and her followers are suggesting.

There has been a flood of topics on this, it's started arguing and bickering, and if it indeed fails to come true as Blossom predicted, and many ATSers claim as well, then isn't that disinformation of the most genuine kind?

It's hard enough to sort through the malarkey, and I understand one's free will to follow whatever belief they choose, but spreading and imposing this kind of thing on a forum that is seeking truth, seems beyond counter productive.

There's still some time, yes, but I still want to pose the question what will be done with all the disinfo should it be proven to be false?

reply to post by ImaNutter


I realize that there have been a lot of threads on the topic, but the members here weren't the ones who created the topic. They are just reporting on it or supporting it. "IF" it doesn't happen, Blossom Goodchild(?) would be the only real hoaxer.

I just don't think you can really punish anyone for spreading what she is preaching. It seems different to me than actually creating the hoax.

I concur.

I see no reason to lock up posters in the stocks for DARING to BELIEVE in something.

This event has brought many people together to discuss, debate and share something over the course of the past few months that rivals the current mainstream and it's agendas, and after all - that's what ATS is for!


Long live the human spirit!

I am all for intelligent discussion, and I will be the first to say there are things beyond human comprehension that we can never quite put a finger on no matter how much discussion, but I ALSO believe there is a line somewhere in there where you step into blasphemous territory.

A lot of ATSers have taken a stance of "meh, I don't know, if it happens it happens and it would be really awesome to be a part of that, but I just don't know, we'll see" which I think is the appropriate stance and it's the one I've taken. On the other hand, there are those who are saying "Well, because I lost cell phone service today, it must be factual." That line isn't an exact quote, but you get the idea. Some people are blindly accepting this as fact and perpetuating, much like our government does, the idea that this is true without leaving it open to discussion as what could be the indicators it is false. This has caused name calling, bickering, arguing, etc etc. If this does indeed turn out to be false and no 2000 mile long spacecraft appears in our atmosphere for 3 days, then those would be guilty of spreading disinformation because they followed blindly without really looking at the reasons it is most likely false (ie, Blossom's history, ie Blossom trying to make money of this, etc etc). Those unquestioning attitudes are part of the reason government has turned the table on its own people, the current financial crisis, the harm religion can cause, etc etc. Do you see my point? It's not healthy from an intellectual or societal stand point to accept something from someone else's mouth as fact without at least verifying it for yourself. And for a website seeking truth, I don't see how those attitudes could be a contribution in the least bit.

Now that being said, if I wake up, look out the window and see the sun being blotted out by a ginormous spaceship, Nanooo Nanooo blurting out the loudspeakers and all, I'll jump for joy and do a happy dance to boot.

BUT...

It's not just difference in opinion or beliefs, it's how people are approaching it. In a scenario like this one, should it come to pass as a joke, all those who blindly followed will have exposed their true process of thought...

Using the term "belief" to spread disinformation should not be acceptable as a scapegoat.

Now, if it turns out that it does take place, it won't matter much at all because hopefully the enlightenment it brings destroys all need for a place like ATS (as much as a shame that would be, seriously).

Enough rambling. The point is this: blindly following is bad.

reply to post by ImaNutter


I understand what you are saying, but the same thing happens on just about every other topic here. For some reason the GFL seems to have become much larger than any other topic at the moment, probably due to the audacity of the claims combined with the desperation that a lot of people are feeling right now.

I guess what I am saying is that you will find the same blind belief in any topic. You can't punish people for that. The only ones who should be punished are the ones who are playing on peoples desperation by creating these hoaxes in the first place.

Originally posted by Karlhungis
reply to post by ImaNutter

 

I understand what you are saying, but the same thing happens on just about every other topic here. For some reason the GFL seems to have become much larger than any other topic at the moment, probably due to the audacity of the claims combined with the desperation that a lot of people are feeling right now.

I guess what I am saying is that you will find the same blind belief in any topic. You can't punish people for that. The only ones who should be punished are the ones who are playing on peoples desperation by creating these hoaxes in the first place.

No see, that's the thing. If it's any kind of UFO video, EVERYONE screams hoax, cgi, I could film that in my closet, . People are encouraged to post sources, back their information up, question the source, and so on. But when it came to this, there were people, I'm not talking about the ones that said "Man I really hope this is for real, I'll be looking to the skies on Oct. 14th!" I am talking about the ones who took it hook, line, and sinker and turned their nose at any "disbelievers."

They created a negativity about it, they created a situation for people to get pissy with one and other. And they did it on the word of one woman, who has spouted off at the mouth and been wrong before. Not to mention if you go to her site, the words ORDERING INFORMATION BELOW is written in LARGER TEXT THAN THE ACTUAL "CHANELLINGS."

Seriously...I mean seriously... I'm trying not to burst into fits of curse words. SERIOUSLY. It's outrageous. I said it before, they crossed that line over into complete blasphemy and that kind of blind, sheeple ignorance does NOT help ANYONE uncover the truth. They really shouldn't be allowed to participate in any kind of debate or discussion about anything worth a damn. I can not wait until it is officially October 15th and I guarantee there will be just as many if not more people to ridicule the "BELIEVERS" than there are "BELIEVERS"...

"Beliefs" aren't an excuse for flat out, undeniable ignorance.

I highly doubt that there will be repercussions. The key thing is that a lot of the posters did believe it. So they really can't be blamed. I know of one individual who was banned very quickly but it had nothing to do with the Oct 14th incident. His was a (and he admitted it) posting of a faked photo to (test us). The key difference is posting something that you KNOW is false vs something that you believe is false and want it to be proven one way or another.

Just my thoughts.

Being gullible is it's own punishment. It's not against the rules, so it's certainly nothing that the mods should concern themselves with. Nothing's censored here unless it's worthy of censor. outright silliness like this rather isn't.