Escaping The Cave

[Micropod] Social Media’s Ministry of Truth

In an exploding state of informational anarchy, who gets to decide what's "true?" Who can you believe?

 

From #112 - Storytellers, Truth, and The Great War of the 21st Century (11/8/22)

#112 - Storytellers, Truth, and The Great War of the 21st Century

Todd's back for the midterms and starts off by blasting the populist Poor Media Victim attitude, exploring whether propaganda and media literacy even matter, discussing informational warfare, and the finer points of navigating ideological drift and its extremists.

 

Segment 2 (23:00): the Democrats' abortion debacle, The Sham-Wow Guy vs. Fettergump, and how the '22 midterms are a sure sign Idiocracy is here. 

Segment 3 (39:00): There were no blacks on the World Series rosters. So?

Segment 4 (58:20): Elon's Twitter drama, his inevitable choice between free speech absolutism and truth ministers, euphemism warnings, then returns to The 21st Century Informational War and how human self-deception is converging with technology to trigger a battle over reality itself.

 

"ToddzillaX" on most social media. LIKE, SHARE & SUBSCRIBE!

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjdLR140l--HufeRSAnj91A

https://toddzillax.substack.com

https://rumble.com/c/c-1253271

https://www.escapingthecave.com

Music by Yellow Pills!  https://open.spotify.com/artist/7rDvBzvGcNPV3BYZ1n5VdZ

[Reload] Iceberg Ahoy! Validation Junkies & The Chosen Ones (9/10/19)

From 2019:

Social validation, dopamine, and social media's Walter White; more on how people are more willing and eager than deceived when it comes to swallowing fiction and disinformation; choking on data leading to confused gullibility; honestly in a crisis; Sausage Party Hope: children demanding their happy ending. Where's the spring of genuine hope?

ALSO:      

• The Battle of the 21st Century
• The iceberg bobbing off our bow
• Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube: Walter White cutting his meth supply? 
• Pinker's Utopian vs. Tragic Vision
• Evolution and self-awareness
• The bi-weekly apocalypse and their "chosen ones"
• Progress's Myth and becoming organic
•  

*LIKE & SHARE; RATE & SUBSCRIBE!

 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjdLR140l--HufeRSAnj91A

https://toddzillax.substack.com

 

#110 - The Cost of Courage & The Limits of Anti-Vax Empathy

Todd's back from sinus purgatory and joined in the studio by Cory! He's un-vaxxed and endured pre-omicron covid, so the show hits its crescendo with a frank, honest, and nuanced chat about responsibility, personal choice, and the ethical limits of anti-vax empathy.   

Before that, they explore why no one believes politicians, what it would take to regain any trust (it's authenticity, stupid), whether there's anyone worth believing in and, if so, would they have the courage to speak truth to the mob? In a society increasingly based on the philosophy of Unity Via Division, is it such a shock when whites vote for their advocates, too? Also lawyers: practitioners of the Dark Arts of Rhetorical Bullshit, and Anger+Activism: Self-Righteous Erotica.

 

"ToddzillaX" on most social media. LIKE, SHARE & SUBSCRIBE!

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjdLR140l--HufeRSAnj91A

https://rumble.com/c/c-1253271

https://www.escapingthecave.com

https://toddzillax.substack.com

Music by Yellow Pills:  https://open.spotify.com/artist/7rDvBzvGcNPV3BYZ1n5VdZ

 

 

#109 - Backdoor Reparations & Unity Via Division

The podship begins slowly changing course as Todd discusses his new Rumble channel, propaganda-by-omission, my-team blind spots, and how his favorite podcast exposed itself as woke. The signs were always there! Also: the special interest boomerang, avoiding exposure to re-articulated ideological scripture, D.I.E. = r.e.p.a.r.a.t.i.o.n.s., the stupidity of scapegoating majorities, and the naive No Tribe Follies. Storytellers, not truth seekers. Memorize that.

 

"ToddzillaX" on most social media.

LIKE, SHARE & SUBSCRIBE!

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjdLR140l--HufeRSAnj91A

https://rumble.com/c/c-1253271

https://www.escapingthecave.com

https://toddzillax.substack.com

Music by Yellow Pills:  https://open.spotify.com/artist/7rDvBzvGcNPV3BYZ1n5VdZ

 

 

#107 - Social Media Avatars: Crazy, Stupid, or Full of Sh*t?

Trump's CPAC appearance marks the start of the 2024 campaign, barely a month into Biden's term. Will we survive this? After other contemporary messages of heartwarming fellowship and hope, Todd continues phoning his shows in, this time "reimagining" episode #64 which discussed performance-based validation addiction. Recorded at the beginning of the pandemic, other topics include how collective critical thought is impossible. You're not the Elephant Whisperer and their switch is internal. You can't "save" anyone! A timely reminder in the Age of Q. Also, leaving the vanquished a path home to save your own casualties.

 

MORE: https://www.escapingthecave.com

https://toddzillax.substack.com

#106 - Political Cults & Mobs 101

After a 2021 open, your friendly virtual Toddzilla mines early episodes, from 2014 & 2018, as a foreshadowing refresher on ideological religions and the Holy War being fueled by their proselytizing zombie hordes. Remember kids, mobs: they're f***ing stupid! Ask your doctor if intellectual autonomy is right for you! (RE27)

 

More: https://toddzillax.substack.com

https://www.escapingthecave.com

#105 - Exploration, Evolution, Death of a Propagandist

People are storytellers not truth seekers. And we're explorers to the core. If you're looking for something positive, exploration brings out the best in us. Good luck today, JPL!  How do we become more sophisticated informational consumers? Loved him? Hated him? Either way, Rush Limbaugh was probably the best and most influential for-profit propagandist ever. Also, finding the line between honesty and aggression, how the pandemic complicates a digital detox, and the relationship between money and exploration. 

 

More: https://www.escapingthecave.com

https://toddzillax.substack.com

#104 - Leaders, Puppets, Boils, and Show Trials

Why aren't impeachments argued before the Supreme Court instead of pre-decided partisans? What better time to revisit the ridiculous idea of Mob Wisdom and the Plague of Democratized Opinion? Are the intentionally misinformed qualified to sit on a We The People's Court Jury? And, if "the people" are going to metaphorically kidnap and blackmail their representatives, should "news" outlets be subject to perjury laws?  Also, the weird thing that happens when abstractions come alive! 

 

More: https://toddzillax.substack.com

https://www.escapingthecave.com

#103 - From Moralist to Tyrant or The Fanatic's Imperative

What about the inevitable Iron Fist of the Collective and the short path between one's idealistic morality and political fanaticism? The batsh*t political poles have shifted apart again! Since no quarter is found between the cults' compounds, Todd asks once again: where's a legit centrist supposed to go? Also, a refresher on narratives, a quick introduction to Sowell's "constrained" and "unconstrained" visions, a very human NEED for propaganda, understanding why many Trump voters just hate Democrats, and our great crime against humanity: self-advocacy! 

 

More: https://www.escapingthecave.com

https://toddzillax.substack.com

#102 - The Other Insurgency & Where's Our Hashtag?

In this sprawling and questionably improvised episode, your slightly medicated and possibly menstruating host discusses everything from subject-matter-futility to contemporary colonizers attacking native temples. How is life in the jungle different from the zoo? What happens when propaganda is simply met with boring ol' truth? Social media is propaganda's plutonium. What's the relationship between moral imperatives and political violence? Enjoy the silence, Trump: The Second Season starts soon.  And what about that search for lost or missing significance and meaning? Is there something more to it that we shouldn't ignore? 

 

More: https://toddzillax.substack.com

https://www.escapingthecave.com

#101 - Post-Trump Stress Disorder & Tech's Theocracy

Joffrey's banished from Twitter and exiled to Florida while a traumatized and twitchy nation begins adjusting to something "normal." How has The Mad King's term eroded government legitimacy within our own borders? No inauguration day riots? What are those brave revolutionaries up to? A: trying to get each other banned from Twitter! President Biden's a reality. How long will Trump continue to set the standard and serve as the excuse? Also, last week's Woke State Media display was the fusion of big tech, pop culture, corporate media, and Green Tea Politics. It introduced us to our freshly exposed left flank and the future of Ideological Theocracy: technological totalitarianism. Where's the centrist supposed to pitch his tent? (RE27)

 

More: https://www.escapingthecave.com

https://toddzillax.substack.com

 

 

#100 - American Zapatistas, Saboteur in Chief, The Lone Boogaloo

With troops flooding DC, Trump's term ends in two days time. Why doesn't it feel certain that it will? Was a nation of "patriots" suddenly afflicted with insurrectile dysfunction on Sunday? Is Donald Trump a foreign agent? Who cares? He performed like one. What lies at the confluence of technology & idiocracy? Also, letting escaped cultists find their way home, When Stories Attack:  factional storytelling is propaganda, and Toddzilla stalks Telegram! How did this thing make it to 100? (SM7B)

 

More: https://www.escapingthecave.com

https://toddzillax.substack.com

#99 - Trump's Rebellion & The Need to Believe

Waiting for 2021's Inauguration Day storm to arrive, I intended this to be a quick repost of a segment from 2019's "Iceberg Ahoy!" episode but it took on a life of its own. It covers everything from QAnon and the Religious Mind's need to believe to the responsibility coming with our contemporary tech capability to our eventual (and deserved) loss of free-range free speech. But the core of the episode is this: it's the people. It's always been the people.  

 

More: https://www.escapingthecave.com

For Future Reference: https://toddzillax.substack.com

#98 - Trump's Rebellion & The New Gatekeepers

Trump's insurrection and the religious mind: why are so many Americans committed to faith before facts? Were they rioters? Protesters? Activists? Terrorists? That's decided by propaganda's very peculiar perspective effect. Is this the end of Trumpism or the beginning of something even worse? When it comes to free speech, where's the line between "liberty and license? If people ignore free speech's responsibilities, should social media accounts be licensed? Should Silicon Valley be in the gatekeeping business? Also, what's the relationship between likability and demonization?  (RE20)

 

More: https://www.escapingthecave.com

For Future Reference: https://toddzillax.substack.com

#96 - The Medium, The Message, & The Horizontal Bop

Todd & Brian begin with some obligatory "analysis" of Trumptown's post-election conspiracy orgy including more conversation about why both Trump and down ticket Democrats had their electoral posteriors handed to them: has the Moderate Majority finally reclaimed its place at the wheel? Or, will it again be shouted down by loudmouth extremists? Also, what's Trump's post-term role with his increasingly unstable base and how will that affect the new Resistance™ party? Is something even more dangerous than Trump coming? Around 34:00, the conversation pivots wider to "institutional terra incognito", the point at which history stops rhyming, comfortably habitual thinking, and Marshall McLuhan's classic phrase: "The medium is the message." Is the important issue our new technology or how we use it? The answer isn't simplistic; the simple act of writing provides an instructional example why!  

 

Like it? Share it! 

More: https://www.escapingthecave.com

#95 - Demagogues & Prairie Dogs

The afterglow is now the aftermath. Essentially two episodes in one, Brian and Todd begin by reflecting on how the vibe has changed since Biden's victory speech then touch on fundamental social psychology. What happens when cognitive cliches begin breaking down and we're forced to explore unfamiliar ground? Is too many choices as bad in the political and informational marketplaces as it is on Netflix? What's the relationship between age and wisdom? Around 53:00, the conversation pivots. Why do Democrats seem to always lose even when they win? Bill Maher offered a very familiar answer! Is the Moderate Majority in danger of being surrounded and marginalized by the loudmouth extremist minority? What happens if they're forced to choose between competing demagogues in 4-year's time? Will an increasingly fragmented boutique news help social media make that possible? Book your Toddzilla Children's Party before it's too late! 

 

Like it? Share it!

More: https://www.escapingthecave.com/

#94 - The Election Afterglow, The Moderate Majority, The Social Media Disease

The Moderate Majority spoke! Todd, Brian, and millions around the globe are relieved and indulging in the afterglow of relieved liberation and overdue hope. Enjoy it while it lasts! We discuss how the podcast's overarching topic, the Social Media Disease, is going mainstream, how both extremes were repudiated in the same election, the art of changing one's own mind, and erecting bridges: everyone's individual responsibility if we're collectively serious about The Great Coming Together. Also, this "stop the steal" silliness and how does someone as personally vile as Donald Trump still get over 70-million votes? Oh yeah! We begin with a late eulogy for Eddie VanHalen. 

 

Like it? Share it!

More: https://www.escapingthecave.com

#93 - 2020 Election: The Nero Referendum & Defending The Electoral College

Todd & Brian reflect both on where we've come from and where we're going as this electoral reality show finally ends. We explore the side effects of direct democracy's mob rule and why the Electoral College is absolutely essential. Also, how do we "rehumanize" ourselves and each other? What's the best case scenario to avoid post-election chaos and violence? Is it inevitable? How will our various factions perceive President Harris if Biden wins only to resign? What are the wider effects of our burgeoning "no compromise!" culture? Pre-election anxiety and fatigue: is it universal outside the fanatic's camp? What's the relationship between one-issue voters and Haidt's Elephant? Our media celebrities and influencers: are they simply clever fiction writers and talented performance artists? Winter: is it finally here? We'll know in a week. 

 

The "Safeguard" documentary: https://www.amazon.com/Safeguard-Electoral-College-Trent-England/dp/B08H6KH9QV

More: https://www.escapingthecave.com/

Like it? Share it!

#92 - Addictive Outrage, Empathy's Path, A Nation in Heat

Todd & Brian return discussing the direct parallels between ideological and theological religion and what Dan Carlin calls The Heat: trivial outrage manufactured to manipulate media consumers for advertising profits, and how it affects us as a society. And, does it matter if our outrage triggers are fake? Is social media contributing to a literal devolution and destroying eons of self-domestication? How do we reclaim our human empathy? Are we returning to naked barbarism as we become slaves to emotional impulses that just "must" be expressed/inflicted? Also, fertile revolutionary soil and how it's the suffering who are susceptible to Snake Oil Demagoguery, Manchurian propagandists, the Electoral College, and Mencken's disturbing concept of irredeemably. What if there is no solution?

 

Dan Carlin's "A Recipe For Caesar": https://www.dancarlin.com/product/common-sense-319-a-recipe-for-caesar/

MORE ETC: https://www.escapingthecave.com/

#91 - The Whitmer Plot, Michigan's Militias, Socialism's Facade

Brian rejoins Todd just in time to discuss the plot to kidnap our governor, Michigan's militias, the psychology of extremism, and the ongoing destruction of social and governmental norms. What are these groups fighting against and do they have a legitimate point buried beneath their theatrics? Is socialism a cult destined to lead to disillusionment and a totalitarian state whose main purpose is maintaining the utopian illusion? We also discuss data overload, Manchurian Propagandists, as well as free speech and the responsibility that comes with it; when does free speech become destructive? Can we tell the difference between propaganda and information? Has propaganda become so ubiquitous that it's actually replaced objective fact without us realizing it? 

 

Like it? Share it! 

MORE: https://www.escapingthecave.com

MUSIC: The Limbos & Paul Vernon

 

RE20

 

#88 - Steinbeck, Murrow, and The Social Media Disease

Continuing the Social Dilemma theme, Todd and Brian delve further into the social, psychological, and personal effects of more than a decade of social media, including meeting members of their direct families for the first time directly via Facebook. Also, Todd's argument against monetization, digital reunions and the bizarre new expectation that, somehow, everyone from every epoch of our lives now deserves a seat at our virtual table. We also discuss the failed utopian vision of "informational democracy" and the essential nature of gatekeeper, learning how to both use these platforms as tools and sabotage the Zuckorithm, as well as possible macro and micro solutions. Is this a triage situation? The show closes with a surprise appearance by Edward R. Murrow and why informational anarchy and intellectual autonomy, not climate change, is the crisis of our time. 

 

Murrow's Text: https://www.rtdna.org/content/edward_r_murrow_s_1958_wires_lights_in_a_box_speech

More Zilla: https://www.escapingthecave.com/

Music: Paul Vernon

#87 - The Social Dilemma: War of the Virtual Worlds

Todd and Brian discuss The Social Dilemma, the new Netflix documentary probing the exploitative, corrosive, and polarizing effects of social media, both psychologically and socially. Also, the addictive nature of the medium, how it manipulates evolutionary psychology, the potentially dangerous side effects of performance withdrawal and how, once you escape, you become an organic organism in a digital ecosystem. We also tinker with solutions and discuss the horrific dystopia awaiting us if we fail to find them. Hint 1: It's the people. Hint 2: The tube: it's social media and Google!

 

Like it? Tell a friend! Even on Facebook! Book your seat on Toddzilla's 2021 Motivational Speaking Tour now! My world famous children's parties are 50% off for a limited time!

 

More: https://www.escapingthecave.com/

#86 - The Illusion of Knowledge & Democratized Opinion 2.0

Are we creating the democratic utopia many naively envisioned at the Internet's birth? Or, are we descending into hell on Earth unleashed by informational anarchy and the freed, and anonymous, human beast? A prelude to my deep dive into Ellul's Propaganda, this episode begins with a description of the DIKW pyramid then moves on to how Plato's Illusion of Knowledge fable applies to the digital Matrix dominated by Social Media, Google, and ostentatious sophists posing as "influencers."

Also: a discussion ofDr. Elias Aboujaoude's stellar book Virtually You and a one-sided examination of the God-Devil duality lurking inside each of us. Like it? Share it!

 

The Social Dilemma: watch It! https://www.netflix.com/title/81254224

Dr. Eli: http://www.eliasaboujaoude.com

His book: https://www.amazon.com/Virtually-You-Dangerous-Powers-Personality/dp/0393340546

For the masochist: www.escapingthecave.com

 

 

 

#83 - Discourse? Or Just Waiting To Talk?

On the Social Media Disease: how exhibitionist combat and agitprop disguised as "debate" is having an effect on verbal comprehension and the ability to engage in meaningful organic conversations. Also, demagogues exploit and thrive on chaos, boycotting the for-profit Media Division Complex in favor of each other, and the switch: it's internal. It's still the people. Like it? Share it!

More: www.escapingthecave.com and www.facebook.com/escapingthecave

#82 - A "Real Conversation"? Allow Me to Retort...

You say you want a real Great Racial Awakening™ dialogue? Great! Quit proselytizing long enough to take a stiff drink and have a listen. Remember: when you clicked you asked. 

Also: supporting lockdown protests and the 2A while mocking militia stalkers at the capitol, burning heretics and blasphemers at the free speech stake, influencers exploiting and monetizing catastrophe and chaos, electoral Ground Hog Day, and why Biden's VP choice is maybe more important than anything. Like it? Share it!

 

More: www.escapingthecave.com and www.facebook.com/escapingthecave.com 

#81 - Activist Media, Dogma as God, Marrow of Humanity

When the entire media's just abandoned their "objective" pretenses, where do you go? Also, digital detox and cutting the incoming noise, homogenous consistency of thought throughout a congregation qualifies as "religion", retained ideological attorneys, the difference between organic human beings and their virtual online projections, and the Marrow of Humanity: who we are when no one's looking. Don't worry. I'll get to the protests, riots, and thought-purges soon enough. Prepare yourselves accordingly!

Like it? Share it. 

More: www.escapingthecave.com and www.facebook.com/EscapingTheCave

    

#80 - The Stalker Militia, A Hydroxy Hardon, Woke Youth

So, about that silly "in this together" thing... Topics include Trump's bizarre and supernatural hydroxychloroquine erection, quarantine and consumerist withdrawal, free-rage extremism and Michigan's armed stalkers closing the capitol, ideological bleed-over, identity politics infecting the virus, humble ignorance, a COVID-exploiting Woke Youth Recruitment video seizing the national airwaves, and what happens when I go off my gated social media reservation and why it's becoming nearly essential to completely disconnect. 

More: www.escapingthecave.com

#79 - Stories, Hope, and The Propaganda Paradox

Adventures in leaving the house after 5-weeks, a quick review of the crappy Vaporesso Target PM-80, populism and the supposed "wisdom" of the bewildered herd, belief and truth are mutually exclusive, atheists: leave the non-phallus swinging faithful alone, the crucial crusading distinction between religious & ideological zealots, and why the simple human need for hope probably makes us powerless against tasty propaganda.  

 

--More: www.escapingthecave.com and www.toddzillax.com
--Be sure you're subscribed to an genuine and authentic Escaping The Cave feed!

 

 

#78 - Social Media Disease: A Cacophony of Nothing

Todd's merciful Bat Plague boycott continues with more spiritually uplifting content like: "F**k Subaru. I hate them and you should, too." Also, 2020's Jill Stein; Steinbeck, Salinas, and digital detox; social media "should" be regulated like radio; data overload is killing democracy; the Wisdom of the People™ doesn't exist therefore populism is pandering to a screeching herd; and rejoice! The Devil's all up in ya! Can you feel him?    

--More: www.escapingthecave.com and www.toddzillax.com

--Be sure you're subscribed to an genuine and authentic Escaping The Cave feed!