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Crowdsourcing is the process of using a lot of different people all adding a little bit of effort to accomplish a large task.  Crowdsourced Storytelling is about the way in which we tell stories online in an attempt to understand the world but also in a way that can go terribly wrong. 

All feedback for this episode can be sent to [email protected].

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Schrodinger's Cat is a thought experiment which is meant to illustrate some of the absurdity of what is happening with Quantum Mechanics. In the thought experiment the life of a cat is directly related to the state of a particle. Quantum Mechanics says that without observing the state of the particle it could be in either state. Erwin Schrodinger was attempting to show how ridiculous this was by attaching the particle state to a mechanism inside a box which would kill a cat trapped inside. The state of the particle then would have a non-quantum event that was consequential and non-reversible. The cat obviously could not be both dead and alive at the same time and therefore we should question why we think that a particle might be in two separate states simultaneously.

This experiment works fine for an attempt to understand one of the many nonintuitive findings in Quantum Mechanics but we often use the story of Schrodinger's Cat in other contexts when something has contradictory states. This episode is about Schrodinger's Meaning. Some people attempt willfully to obtain two separate (and often opposite) meanings from the things they say. This goes beyond simple double entendre and into fully realized and conflicting narratives which cannot coexist or both be correct at the same time.


Links
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schr%C3%B6dinger%27s_cat
https://www.npr.org/2021/04/26/990274685/how-extremists-weaponize-irony-to-spread-hate

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Reality Inversion is a psychological concept seen among conspiracists wherein evidence that should show them the truth instead reinforces their fantasies. Stephanie Kemmerer joins me for a discussion about the topic with many relevant examples.

Links
The Collapse of World Trade Center - The Complete Physics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NkBfLBov5Q
Robbie Parker (Sandy Hook parent) press conference (full)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fr1-YejnY4
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_voice_phenomenon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bizarro_World
https://www.wired.com/author/david-gilbert/
https://twitter.com/Shayan86
https://twitter.com/jaredlholt
https://twitter.com/PokerPolitics/status/1511535745252708355

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Audience Capture has a second meaning! It describes when a person is stuck having to perform for their audience. David Bloomberg and Spencer discuss this aspect in an addendum to the previous episode about Audience Capture.

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This episode might upset some people. If what is said here offends you, I want to hear about it. Send all feedback to [email protected]. If you agree with what I've said I also want to hear from you, even if it's only a score out of ten.

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These US Election Update episodes are an attempt to chronicle the twisting tale of history as it is happening for an event that we are certain will affect the future. We discuss each of the major candidates and what is currently affecting their progress toward the title of president.


Links
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/feb/28/marianne-williamson-presidential-campaign
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4544764-robert-f-kennedy-jr-rfk-jr-aaron-rodgers-nicole-shanahan-andrew-yang-jesse-ventura/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Results_of_the_2024_Democratic_Party_presidential_primaries
https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/the-trump-docket-the-very-puzzling-problem-in-florida-and-the-strange-possibility-of-a-trial-and-election-all-at-once/

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Why are there people who believe the Earth is flat? How is it possible to get so far turned around about something so basic? I sit down with Reds Rhetoric, a person who has been pushing back against Flatearthers for a very long time, to discuss it.

Links
https://www.youtube.com/@RedsRhetoric
1998 Space Shuttle Endeavour launch video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNdaUMND_Yw

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