Posts by Farmer Green
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Hard News: The fake news problem, in reply to Ian Dalziel,
The NZ Dairy Exporter was read by most of the family ; it was the nearest thing to a true dairy science publication. This was in the great era (1950-1975) where NZ grazing management was refined to become a “precise” science of Dry Matter , Residual Dry Matter ; cows/acre ; rotation length ; spelling intervals .
That was the theory , but the weather was still the boss, and the traditional farmer still made constant adjustments of the above parameters to the vagaries of the season as it manifested.
The best fertiliser was still “the eyes of the farmer” ; in fact- ” all of the senses” – was what was meant by Pliny the Elder’s observation. The farmer who walks his fields daily is hearing , smelling, seeing, touching, tasting, and he is processing all of that into the wholistic concept that is “the farm”, instantly updating as he walks, so that informed intuitive response is a constant . -
Hard News: From Zero: The Meth Episode, in reply to Mark Graham,
A drug is not evil: even methamphetamine has a very limited useful role in medicine.
You make an important point about misinformation, particularly misinformation given to children , under the guise of drug education.
Lying to children about anything simply leads to a generalised distrust of anything from the same source. -
Hard News: The fake news problem, in reply to Geoff Lealand,
an interesting discussion on these matters
A similar discussion has been occurring over the last several years in the free farming press . Farmers receive three or four free " newspapers" each week, paid for by the advertisers.
It has been interesting to see the ways in which "fake news" is created.
A very common technique is omission.
An observation of empirical data is made, and a correlation with another data set is established .
Then the "omission" occurs.
It is not pointed out to the reader, who may have had no formal training in logic , that it is not possible to construct a syllogism from this evident correlation , that is not demonstrably false. The whole issue of what can be inferred, which is obviously nothing , is "left hanging " , so to speak.
This opens the way for the reader to construct the false syllogism , which is vaguely implied from the juxtaposition of the correlated data sets.
It obviously works a treat because the fake news just keeps coming.
These days this technique has extended from the advertising of "useful " products, to the encouragement of "useful" memes. And that seems to work well for politicians., and others for whom persuasion provides the "daily bread". -
Hard News: The fake news problem, in reply to David Hood,
Poor phrasing on my part. It was puzzling that fake news is receiving so much attention at this time . Has something changed , or was the reportage itself more of the same?
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It’s puzzling that this “fake news ” meme is considered novel.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-11-25/meet-real-fake-news
Yeah I know . . . ZH
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Hard News: The fake news problem, in reply to Dennis Frank,
the mass construction of artificial social realities that become reality in the minds of those in the co-creating group,
Hallelujah! He is risen!
I've been supplying to retail for 35 years. When we have a marketing issue , we tend to say :- 'What would the Roman Catholic Church do in this situation?"
It usually gives some clue. -
Hard News: The fake news problem, in reply to David Hood,
A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it. -Max Planck.
Another relevant aphorism is – ” the truth will out”.
Or this- It is not the possession of truth, but the success which attends the seeking after it, that enriches the seeker and brings happiness to him. -
If you are identifying the Fonterra guff as pure spin, then you could be right. On the positive side, it is a move to get rid of PKE.
Maybe replace it with more nitrogen fertiliser? -
Just an observation that the interest rate on a five year loan term has not been lower in the last 40 years. It may not last much longer ; less than one year in my view.
https://hat4uk.wordpress.com/2016/11/25/crash2-you-know-its-imminent-when/
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Hard News: The fake news problem, in reply to Rich Lock,
And acknowledging that NZ needs to be exporting if we are going to service and repay our debts .
So it is about trade, which will never be totally free, and is unlikely to be all in our favour. Most likely we will think it unfair to varying degrees.
The message for NZ might be to produce things that give us the returns we need to stay afloat ; unlikely that this will be milk powder to third world markets.This arrived yesterday ; seems like same old:-
What does the panel think?