Not at all nice!
A couple of years ago “skinwalkers” were a mega-fad on the Internet. Somehow this obscure bit of Navaho folklore captivated cyberspace. I think it’s pretty much died down by now, but in 2021 it was colossal. Goes to show ya what a year of quarantine etc. can do.
Were people just stir-crazy by then–is that why so many jumped aboard this bandwagon?
Or were there really skinwalkers on the loose?
There should be a law. They need to include this in Nothing Studies so the the upcoming generation will vote in leaders who will enforce lockdowns and end this menace, once and for all. 🙂
I’ve seen Skinwalker Ranch videos pop up as suggestions on my YouTube feed. I watched the beginning of a couple, and they constituted a big, steaming, pile of nothing. Basically, anything that went bump in the night was treated as positive proof that skinwalkers were about.
These jidrools would have a field day, at my house. Things that go bump in the night are nothing compared to living in an area where Cactus Wrens abound. I hear them making noises at all hours, and most mornings, it sounds like they are trying to break in the front door. This is because I leave my porch light on, and insects congregate, creating a Cactus Wren delicatessen, on my front porch. Somehow, I don’t mind, and it gives the cat something to investigate. But if the History Channel got wind of it, they’d be all over the place.
(Give me a moment to step up, onto my soapbox.)
The History Channel used to be a favorite, but they’ve turned into a farce. Endless Skinwalker Ranch videos, and videos about a former leader of Germany, from the ‘30s and ‘40s. (As I write, the Cactus Wren is back, making a ruckus on my front porch. I love it, and my kitty is quite perked up.) If you analyze these videos, they make wild leaps of logic, while not actually stating anything.
They find some old dump where that German dictator COULD have hidden out, and immediately skip to an absolute conclusion that he DID hide out there, then got on an airplane and escaped; but if you listen carefully, they never actually state anything as fact. Instead, they fabricate a remote possibility, build a story upon that possibility, then flesh that story out as fact, but never actually connect their fairy tale to any verifiable event. Another episode, that says nothing, but pays the bills.
Skinwalkers, UFOs, fugitive Nazis; these seem to sell quite well, which is amazing to me, because most of this is nothing but elaborate campfire stories. All three of these subjects have a tinge of the occult, and people perseverate on this garbage, instead of living in reality, and appreciating the good things our Creator has provided … such as noisy little Cactus Wrens. 🙂
So you’re not a fan?
Sheesh! Years ago people were already calling it “the Hitler Channel.”
I got so TIRED of skinwalkers–!
The History Channel has become a terrible disappointment as the years have gone by. Not that many years ago, I saw it as a very reliable source of interesting, mostly factual, information, presented in an entertaining fashion. However, recently, it has become sensationalistic and no longer particularly rooted in fact. But hey, it sells, so who cares?
This is the tip of a massive iceberg. D’Tocqueville warned of the tyranny of the masses, and we are seeing something that makes me think that D’Tocqueville had a point. In the Internet Era, the voice of the masses can be heard in a way that was never before possible, but there’s a caveat; the voices heard are biased towards people who participate in disseminating their opinions on the Internet, are more effective at doing so; not to mention the effect of filtering emplaced by various Internet platforms.
There are now so many sources of statistical information that it’s difficult not to suffer conformation bias, so feedback could easily become a positive feedback mechanism, and positive feedback loops will naturally spiral out of control. Thus, we have a disproportionate number of sensationalistic programs, with little or no foundation in fact.
There’s also another factor, in that many of these shows are relatively inexpensive to produce. Instead of requiring sets and costumes, much of the footage is shot on location, using relatively inexpensive equipment. We don’t expect the lighting to be perfect, and this one thing has a major effect on production costs. A lot of time, effort, and ultimately, money, is expended on lighting, so if programming can be created where the audience doesn’t expect the lighting to consistent from scene to scene, costs are much lower. If I think about the few minutes of Skinwalker Ranch programs I’ve seen, poor lighting actually added to the sense of danger.
The action has shifted away from broadcast, cable and satellite television, moving towards YouTube, and various Internet based media systems. In my mind; the question becomes how much longer can “professionally produced” programs be economically viable? The cost threshold for creating content with acceptable production values is much lower than it used to be, so we can look forward to ever greater preponderance of Skinwalker Ranch type of programming.
Who needs this? There are any number of other sources for quality programming. I watch a lot of YouTube, where I can choose from sites I know t9 be reliable sources of interesting content. I pay YouTube for an ad-free viewing experience, and am glad to do so.