With all these reports about dog whistles it makes wonder. How do they keep hearing it? And even further how do we know they are hearing it? It’s unfalsifiable. If you keep blowing a dog whistle and a dog does not come is it because the whistle doesn’t work or that it’s not really being blown. Either way how can we know. We have to assume those telling us are being honest. With our media it’s at the very least worth questioning.
The whole concept of a dog whistle is it’s unique ability to only be heard by the dog, obviously. We are told that many politicians on the right are blowing “white supremacist” dog whistles. Of course, this means only white supremacists can hear it. If that’s true are those that report this inaudible whistle able to hear it and if they can are they white supremacist? By definition they would have to be, right. If they are not white supremacist how would they know? And more importantly why should anyone believe them?
Of course, one can assume a dog whistle is being blown. But for that to be proven correct then a dog would follow, right? If a white supremacist dog whistle is being blown then white supremacist would follow. If a white supremacist doesn’t show up did they not hear it or was the whistle not being blown? What if those that follow or those that claim to hear it are not white supremacist? The only conclusion would be that it was not a white supremacist dog whistle. I’m sure you have thought all these things too. This begs the question; if the whistle is heard then anyone one that follows heard it, and this allows our media to paint a whole group of people with a broad brush. This is precisely what the media aims to do. They make up an inaudible sound that nobody can disprove and claim that anyone who responds is guilty of hearing the sound. It’s brilliant really.
For this really to work the one whom is accused of blowing this whistle needs to accept responsibility and apologize for doing so. This is what we see happening all the time. It completes the charade and gives credibility to a completely made up scenario. Because why would someone claim responsibility for something they didn’t do and if the whistle can’t be heard it proves it exists. Like I said, brilliant.
What about unknown signals? This follows the same logic. If a known signal exists and a person can unknowingly display it then only those that know can see it. How would it be possible for a person that doesn’t know or subscribe to it recognize this unknown signal? What a paradox. This is the world we live in. As a parent I know that it’s possible for someone to display something or say something and not entirely understand it’s meaning and implication. I do take the time to teach them what it means, but I don’t accuse them of purposefully doing it. The most obvious example of this would be the middle finger. When certain gestures such as holding three fingers up has heretofore always signaled the number three it is safe to assume that is what is implied. This most certainly doesn’t require an apology.
To sum up if you keep hearing inaudible sounds and seeing unknown signals you should take responsibility. It may be a good idea to keep that to yourself and work on you. Most likely these things will go away overtime with practice.
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