[Shawnski]

Originally Posted by flylock shox

So the issue is: "is it okay to employ young girls to communicate messages in the media, regardless of whether those messages are true or not?"

Let's accept that, in some circumstances, and particularly in circumstances where the message they're asked to communicate is true, it's okay to use young girls for this purpose. Otherwise we're into a debate about whether young girls should be allowed to communicate anything by video to the wider world - which is probably a pointless debate.

So really there's only one issue: "should young girls be used as a means of communicating untrue information to the world?"

And I suppose the answer to that, for most people, would be "no."

That's pretty easy so far.

The problem most will have though is determining which situation we're looking at here: young girls being used to communicate true information to the world (OK), or young girls being used to communicate information that is not true (not OK).

So the issue itself requires one to take a position on whether the information presented by the young girls is true or not.

And that, I'm afraid, is just too much darned work.

Unless, of course, we trust the Kool-aid skull's video. Which we don't, because he's a talking, voice-anonymized, Kool-aid skull.

This leaves us with a lot of info to dig up and verify ourselves, which we're just not interested in doing because oh god I'm already bored with my own analysis to this point.

IF you wish to argue the merits (truthfulness) of what the young girls said, I would respectfully suggest you listen to that Christina Hoff Sommers posted within that video (and others, if you want further backup) and confirm her findings.

Plain and simple.

The rest of your post seems to suggest that you are OK with using the girls in this fashion?

Now, as for "truthfulness".

Data and statistics are very easily manipulated to show what the user desires.

Truthfully? I am a database god. I can slice and dice data to the ends of earth.

I can make you look tall or short. Thin or fat. Dumb or smart.

Take your pick, I can make a "study" look exactly as I want it to appear for my intentions.

And no, I am NOT for hire to do this for anyone. I wouldn't do it.. period.

I want data to reflect factual information that is time tested. I seek out anomalies and changes within data to see shifts. I look to ensure anomalies are not considered in reporting unless truly relevant.

What I am seeing perpetuated on the interwebs and even here (regarding this video's topic) is quite often false information. Or misleading at best.

And that does NO ONE any favours.