Dan Olson / Folding Ideas

Q Anon is based on a central text (the Q drops), but is also built as an ARG to make the followers to draw their own conclusions. Similarly, I do thin there's some more shadowy people in the meme stock movement that point them at specific directions, but let people formulate their own insane economic theories, and in this case, the goal is to find bag holders for a pump-and-dump, same way Q was about poisoning the well for democracy by creating a hyper-partisan group that see the Democratic party as literally demonic.

For me, the central feature of a cult is isolation. At it's peak, it's the armed compound and the bucket of flavor-aid, but you can isolate followers into their own homes and online cult spaces, usually by making them evangelize to others in offputting ways that they burn bridges to friends and loved ones with critical faculties (but crucially, no training in cult deradicalisation) but in a way where it appears to the cult member that the isolation is the fault of the outsiders, not the cult itself.

Barring any major problems with it, there should be a new video by Dan out in the next few days. A relatively brisk (I mean 45ish minute is brisk compared to some of the other stuff he's put out recently) video on that weird Gold documentary that has Idris Elba in it.

Not to double post, but it's live:

OK,what's this video about?

Idris Elba being involved kind of reminds me of that video Dan did about that Geocentrism documentary. Idris obviously has some direct involvement, he did physically go to some of these places, but ultimately he only really has the script they gave him to go off of, and any nuance in discussions he may have had with people on location - Well, its not like he'd have had any say in the editing.

Gold, the idea of gold as a commodity, and the sorts of people who push the idea of gold as a commodity (and how a lot of it is just shallow corporate propaganda, and not even subtle about it), with a particular spotlight on a recent documentary (Gold: A Journey with Idris Elba).

Edited by Blueeyedrat on Jan 10th 2024 at 7:21:19 AM

TBH the video isn't really about that. It's about how you could make a documentary about gold and how fascinating it could be, but how corporate interests make sure this one doesn't because doing so risks raising some not very marketable concerns. The documentary keeps veering close to interesting topics but then immediately stops itself from exploring them in the name of corporate interests. Leaving the "documentary" to be very boring.

Edited by Ghilz on Jan 10th 2024 at 10:29:40 AM

And that’s bad, because Idris Elba can make anything more interesting just by being there.

Edited by CanuckMcDuck1 on Jan 10th 2024 at 9:26:04 AM

It's also an intro to the idea of industry trade groups through the discussion of the World Gold Council.

Dan also implies that he's unhappy with Canada's current monarch.

Should anyone be happy with the guy who has a startlingly great talent to surround himself with pedophiles? Between his Brother and his having Jimmy Saville as an adviser in the 90s Charles doesn't exactly strike one with inspiration.

Edited by Ghilz on Jan 11th 2024 at 7:26:27 AM

Mate, I'm an American. I'm not big on the whole monarchy thing to begin with.

In Canada, we don’t think or care very much about the monarch. They’re a symbol at best, and passing reality TV at worst.

Edited by CanuckMcDuck1 on Jan 11th 2024 at 8:31:06 AM

Idris Elba being involved kind of reminds me of that video Dan did about that Geocentrism documentary. Idris obviously has some direct involvement, he did physically go to some of these places, but ultimately he only really has the script they gave him to go off of, and any nuance in discussions he may have had with people on location - Well, its not like he'd have had any say in the editing.

That's... a bit of a stretch. The involvement of "a scientist agreeing to a few fairly civil interviews" versus "flying all over the world when you're an A-List actor" is a comically wide gulf. And while I don't expect Elba to know the specifics of lies of omission as they pertain to this particular reclaimed gold mine, saying he "only has the script" seems to simultaneously give him too little credit and not enough. The man's an actor, but that doesn't make him an automaton that recites whatever's in front of him with no ability to ingest it. He had an idea that he's pushing gold propaganda, and deemed it acceptable to do so, either for money or on behalf of his Ghanian ties mentioned by Oldon.

Yeah, basically. He knew what he was getting into. To clarify, for better or worse. He wasn't a rube tricked into anything. He ran the numbers and chose whether or not to take a job. I don't blame him either way.

Edited by Larkmarn on Jan 11th 2024 at 3:30:06 PM

I think it depends on why he did the documentary (pretty good chance it has something to do with the Ghana bit), but it's also important to remember that things like this tend to pay very well and that the not-on-location bits really are almost purely scripted.

Mostly what it boils down to is that it doesn't really matter. Idris Elba is an actor for hire who has a history of doing documentaries, and if the paycheck was big enough, he'd just go for it because it's unlikely he's really that familiar with the toxic history of goldmining. On top of that, once he signed the contract, it'd be really goddamn hard to get out of it. It's why actors don't bail from clear disaster projects, because it's cheaper to just wait it out and put in the bare minimum.

The difference between this and that geocentrism documentary is that the World Gold Council probably just went to Elba and went "hey, we're doing a documentary about gold and we'll pay you a ton, you in?" And it'd be accurate. The geocentrism people did a bunch of tricks to drum up interest which are, put together, pretty scummy.

I want to clarify that while Elba knew a lot more going in, him being in this isn't really a "you should stop being a fan of his other work" situation. He's an actor for hire doing a documentary that, from his perspective, would look pretty benign. Yeah, it's to sell gold but like...what's wrong with selling gold? That kinda thing.

It's not really about him, and him being in it is more or less irrelevant. If he wasn't available, they'd just have gotten someone else on the same profile level to do it.

Edited by Zendervai on Jan 11th 2024 at 3:26:34 PM

Calm down, I didn't say it was one-to-one.

Pretty calm, buddy. If you don't want people to point out that something you said was silly, don't say something silly.

Sorry I misunderstood your meaning.

Edited by diddyknux on Jan 11th 2024 at 2:36:30 PM

It's also, all things considered, pretty minor.

Like, we're not in "Matt Damon calling you a pussy for not getting involved in Crypto, an actual scam" territory.

And as Dan points out, actors doing stuff like this is older than time. That it's Idris Elba doing it isn't even particularly weird or notable. The only thing that makes this stand out from billion similar promos is how it's getting aggressively pushed via online advertising.

In the preview for the video on Patreon, someone left a comment that Elba did a DJ gig for their company virtual party, to which Dan responded that the actor was a notorious workaholic.

Yeah, Dan glosses over it, but if you ever go to corporate events, retreats and the like, companies pay celebs big money to do puff pieces like this all the time. What's weird with this one is WE get to see it.

And like he mentions, corporate backed, star-hosted puff pieces like this are a staple of museum displays. Heck, at least in my days they werent even rare in school.

Edited by Ghilz on Jan 11th 2024 at 8:31:16 AM

Another good documentary from Dan Olson, it seems.

I'll say that I'm amused by the idea of "advertising gold", because gold is itself a fundamental symbol of wealth and luxury. It's the sort of thing advertisements would compare their product to.

I agree with Dan that actually a documentary about gold in the abstract is a pretty good idea, undermined by it being an ad.

I'm heavily amused by the story with the mine that nearly solved the toxic pit problem, the industry had to downplay their success.

Like Dan said, boasting that "We've almost solved the toxic pit problem" does not send the positive message the gold industry wants.

I am glad Dan talked about this type of documentary/propaganda.

These types of documentaries are not entertaining in the traditional sense, but their underlining aspects and methodology are kind of fascinating. The people who made this documentary basically have to sell the idea that something that is for all intensive purposes bad for society (gold mining) is actually good, but they can't exactly lie.

Like the makers of the documentary can't really point to any specific thing that gold mining does that is "good" at least compared to all the negatives. Which to me is kind of fascinating. It's like trying to make a pro-smoking or a pro-asbestos documentary but they have to be at least semi-truthful without referencing any of the bad aspects.

Edited by Freshwater on Jan 12th 2024 at 11:47:37 AM