Bots now account for 47% of internet traffic, with 30% being harmful
This news did not make me happy.
You would think there was already enough push to fool and confuse us.
The Hebrew Bible already says (Isaiah 5:20): Woe to those who speak of evil as good and of good as evil; who replace darkness with light and light with darkness; who replace bitter with sweet and sweet with bitter.
Woe of the times when good equals evil, light darkness, and sweet bitter.
Lies, deliberate mistakes, are almost always evil.
Statistics are known to be able to fabricate ‘truths’ unrelated to reality.
Prejudices have sown more hatred, bigotry, and self-hatred than ever.
Political propaganda masquerading as news is nothing new.
Fake news is popularized by the chief con artist of our time, Trump. He, however calls the honest media trying to fact check the fake news.
Conspiracy theories have enabled the Antisemitism revival.
Lawfare tries to prove just by majority votes what is unjust.
AI is even used by ISIS now and by Trump, falsely disclaiming reality.
Bots are overscreaming political advertising ahead of the US elections.
Who can we still trust?
- Don’t jump to conclusions. Trust must be won. Follow people for some time before concluding the value of their words.
- Don’t trust all the media. The Times of Israel staff checks its own reporting over and over to make sure it’s factual.
- Trust no one. Compare different sources.
- Trust democrats over autocrats, moderates over extremists.
- Doubt people who spread hatred, even if they wear neckties.
- Con artists often perfected lying all their lives. We’re bound to believe them sometimes, but when we stay vigilant, we’ll find out.
- Be especially on the lookout for partial liars, in particular those who say some things that seem true to have you fall for the rest.
- Be ready to face that those you consider against evil might lie too.
- Do not believe unsolicited ‘news’ from unchecked sources.
- Be honest and have honest friends so you can compare conclusions.
- Ask yourself if a source has an ulterior motive to put it like that.
- Be doubly wary of those looking for fame, money, and votes.
- Look out for claims of alternative, secret, hidden, or new ‘evidence.’
- A famous, rich, or smart person saying it doesn’t make it true. Truth doesn’t come from authority but from sound arguments.
- Doubt secondhand information via nice, naïve, un-paranoid people.
- Watch for irrelevant verbosity (AI) that fancies up an inferior piece.
- Seriously doubt ideas sounding like conspiracy theories, prejudices, or depictions of whole groups as inferior.
- Doubly scrutinize words that would make most people furious (murder, genocide, rape, pedophilia) or anxious (threats to life).
- Stay in doubt about alarming whistleblowers until you can know.
- Be suspicious of messages that play into them-vs.-us sentiments.
- Use common sense. If it’s too good/bad to be true, it probably is.
- Look for facial expressions that contradict what they’re saying.
- Don’t overlook your first impression of someone if it is negative.
- Stop being naïve. You don’t need to become cynical or bitter to admit that truth and integrity are under attack. Be hopeful about the future but realistic about the present.
- Ask if they believe this themselves, how much of it is wishful thinking, and how many facts they saw or checked themselves.
- If you don’t shame or punish a liar, they might admit more quickly.
- Some cultures call truth what gives honor, not what is factual.
- Untruth can be one word, while the correcting truth paragraphs.
- Some people wrongly assume that an honest opinion can’t be a lie.
- When the fox preaches the Passion, farmer, watch your chickens.
- When someone claims/swears to be honest, don’t believe it.
- Some people say untruths not out of dishonesty but for being sloppy.
- When a friend or acquaintance seems to say an untruth, confront them. Maybe they misspoke, you misheard, or they lacked info. Pay attention if they volunteer a ‘good’ excuse that seems contrived.
- A dishonest person from an environment that values truth is worse than a liar from a group where honesty is a low priority.
- Brainwashed people generally don’t know they lost contact with reality. When you try to awaken them, they’ll label you their enemy.
- Jewish Law permits us to protect ourselves based on vague rumors, but never to fully believe any slander of Jews contained in them without thoroughly investigating them.
- Thieves and murderers are to be disbelieved by default.
- Learn from physicians. They always work with incomplete and uncertain data. Time and (in)action will give more information.
- Be ready to cut your losses when you discover you’ve been fooled.
MM is a prolific and creative writer and thinker, previously a daily blog contributor to the TOI. He often makes his readers laugh, mad, or assume he's nuts—close to perfect blogging. He's proud that his analytical short comments are removed both from left-wing and right-wing news sites. None of his content is generated by the new bore on the block, AI. *
As a frontier thinker, he sees things many don't yet. He's half a prophet. Half. Let's not exaggerate. Or not at all because he doesn't claim G^d talks to him. He gives him good ideas—that's all. MM doesn't believe that people observe and think in a vacuum. He, therefore, wanted a broad bio that readers interested can track a bit what (lack of) backgrounds, experiences, and educations contribute to his visions. *
This year, he will prioritize getting his unpublished books published rather than just blog posts. Next year, he hopes to focus on activism against human extinction. To find less-recent posts on a subject XXX among his over 2000 archived ones, go to the right-top corner of a Times of Israel page, click on the search icon and search "zuiden, XXX". One can find a second, wilder blog, to which one may subscribe too, here: https://mmvanzuiden.wordpress.com/ or by clicking on the globe icon next to his picture on top. *
Like most of his readers, he believes in being friendly, respectful, and loyal. However, if you think those are his absolute top priorities, you might end up disappointed. His first loyalty is to the truth. He will try to stay within the limits of democratic and Jewish law, but he won't lie to support opinions or people when don't deserve that. (Yet, we all make honest mistakes, which is just fine and does not justify losing support.) He admits that he sometimes exaggerates to make a point, which could have him come across as nasty, while in actuality, he's quite a lovely person to interact with. He holds - how Dutch - that a strong opinion doesn't imply intolerance of other views. *
Sometimes he's misunderstood because his wide and diverse field of vision seldomly fits any specialist's box. But that's exactly what some love about him. He has written a lot about Psychology (including Sexuality and Abuse), Medicine (including physical immortality), Science (including basic statistics), Politics (Israel, the US, and the Netherlands, Activism - more than leftwing or rightwing, he hopes to highlight reality), Oppression and Liberation (intersectionally, for young people, the elderly, non-Whites, women, workers, Jews, LGBTQIA+, foreigners and anyone else who's dehumanized or exploited), Integrity, Philosophy, Jews (Judaism, Zionism, Holocaust and Jewish Liberation), the Climate Crisis, Ecology and Veganism, Affairs from the news, or the Torah Portion of the Week, or new insights that suddenly befell him. *
Chronologically, his most influential teachers are his parents, Nico (natan) van Zuiden and Betty (beisye) Nieweg, Wim Kan, Mozart, Harvey Jackins, Marshal Rosenberg, Reb Shlomo Carlebach, and, lehavdil bein chayim lechayim, Rabbi Dr. Natan Lopes Cardozo, Rav Zev Leff, and Rav Meir Lubin. This short list doesn't mean to disrespect others who taught him a lot or a little. One of his rabbis calls him Mr. Innovation [Ish haChidushim]. Yet, his originalities seem to root deeply in traditional Judaism, though they may grow in unexpected directions. In fact, he claims he's modernizing nothing. Rather, mainly basing himself on the basic Hebrew Torah text, he tries to rediscover classical Jewish thought almost lost in thousands of years of stifling Gentile domination and Jewish assimilation. (He pleads for a close reading of the Torah instead of going by rough assumptions of what it would probably mean and before fleeing to Commentaries.) This, in all aspects of life, but prominently in the areas of Free Will, Activism, Homosexuality for men, and Redemption. *
He hopes that his words will inspire and inform, and disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed. He aims to bring a fresh perspective rather than harp on the obvious and familiar. When he can, he loves to write encyclopedic overviews. He doesn't expect his readers to agree. Rather, original minds should be disputed. In short, his main political positions are among others: anti-Trumpism, for Zionism, Intersectionality, non-violence, anti those who abuse democratic liberties, anti the fake ME peace process, for original-Orthodoxy, pro-Science, pro-Free Will, anti-blaming-the-victim, and for down-to-earth, classical optimism, and happiness. Read his blog on how he attempts to bridge any tensions between those ideas or fields. *
He is a fetal survivor of the pharmaceutical industry (https://diethylstilbestrol.co.uk/studies/des-and-psychological-health/), born in 1953 to his parents who were Dutch-Jewish Holocaust survivors who met in the largest concentration camp in the Netherlands, Westerbork. He grew up a humble listener. It took him decades to become a speaker too, and decades more to admit to being a genius. But his humility was his to keep. And so was his honesty. Bullies and con artists almost instantaneously envy and hate him. He hopes to bring new things and not just preach to the choir. *
He holds a BA in medicine (University of Amsterdam) – is half a doctor. He practices Re-evaluation Co-counseling since 1977, is not an official teacher anymore, and became a friendly, powerful therapist. He became a social activist, became religious, made Aliyah, and raised three wonderful kids. Previously, for decades, he was known to the Jerusalem Post readers as a frequent letter writer. For a couple of years, he was active in hasbara to the Dutch-speaking public. He wrote an unpublished tome about Jewish Free Will. He's a strict vegan since 2008. He's an Orthodox Jew but not a rabbi. *
His writing has been made possible by an allowance for second-generation Holocaust survivors from the Netherlands. It has been his dream since he was 38 to try to make a difference by teaching through writing. He had three times 9-out-of-10 for Dutch at his high school finals but is spending his days communicating in English and Hebrew - how ironic. G-d must have a fine sense of humor. In case you wonder - yes, he is a bit dyslectic. If you're a native English speaker and wonder why you should read from people whose English is only their second language, consider the advantage of having an original peek outside of your cultural bubble. *
To send any personal reaction to him, scroll to the top of the blog post and click Contact Me. *
His newest books you may find here: https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3AMoshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&s=relevancerank&text=Moshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1