A lot of people are simply pessimists and will dismiss real authenticity because they don't have the tools to recognize it.

Because the internet is filled by slop shit by people trying to make a buck from it.

It's like saying I don't know how to recognize non-spam when I end up blocking 99.99% of all mail showing up at the server.

I do recognize non-spam, it's just that I know most of it is crap.

I don’t know that it’s people trying to make a buck - and that seems a bit silly of a thing to say to begin with. I presume you try to make your buck doing whatever it is you do.

What I will say is that it’s definitely a different form of expression from what we’ve had beyond recent history and - at the same time - artists, photographers, painters, jesters, philosophers, and playwrights have been trying to live off their form of expression for a while now too.

> A lot of people are simply pessimists and will dismiss real authenticity because they don't have the tools to recognize it.

Do you think you have those tools? And if you do, do you actually have them?

You are purposely being shoveled content that's expected to be engaging. Your feedback is used to tune your own personal model to maximize the volume of content you swallow.

If I ever get to know you, remind me not to recommend you books I think you’ll like.

The mistake you're making is presuming that these recommendations are pushed to you with your best interests in mind. Read up on propaganda attacks such as the infamous alt-right pipeline.

If we believe people can't be trusted with free access to ideas because they might become 'radicalized' or potential ’useful idiots’, we're advocating for more social control, not less. The ability to think critically isn't threatened by exposure to ideas - it's threatened by a broken social contract that deprives people of the conditions for self-actualization and genuine autonomy. Banning platforms or content just scapegoats symptoms while ignoring this deeper crisis.

Is there truly a difference? It's not our reality that shapes our perception, but our perception that shapes our reality.

Excuse me, have you never "perceived" a lie before?

I have believed vastly more than I have perceived. Of the lies I have perceived, my reality has altered in response to the perception.