Irma - News media and government response

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I am curious if anyone is like me on my observations of the media and government public interaction in regard to Irma. (btw I don't know how to explain myself and that is why I used words like "public interaction")

The news media seems to keep telling people what to do instead of giving people information. The government seemed to keep telling everyone to go to a shelter or else your just going to be a mess for them to clean up later. The media kept telling everyone to go to a shelter, take the hurricane seriously, and that we were all in this together.

I was getting more and more frustrated by the absence of information. I will make my own decisions, its pointless to just tell me what to do because if I do not see the reasoning behind it then I wont do it, period.

Does anyone else think like me?

I do, actually. I don't follow rules that have no good reasoning behind them. If I can't see one myself and nobody can tell me a valid (!) one, I get mightily frustrated up to defiant.

That is very standard conduct though. The telling what to do and not giving reasons as to why. It's worse - I believe - in Germany, since Germans just love order and following rules. Exaggerating here of course, but in general Germans like to get told what to do (and not think for themselves).

Regardless, that attitude got me into endless trouble. In fact, that attitude cost me most jobs I was able to hold thus far. Just be glad you're in America, where authority is always viewed with suspicion. And rightfully so.

Lots of information was given by CNN, Fox, the Weather Channel, Etc.

I guess the Florida government could have been less "authoritarian" in their approach.

I watched Channel 10 and 8 and they were pretty much the same. I did not try the ones you listed. Next time I will. Thanks.

Perhaps you could make friends with a local meteorologist who would be willing to discuss what he thinks hurricanes will do? Seems to me like most TV stations have their own weatherman--some of them around here even have more than one.

I'm not sure whether this should be labeled as a possible cynicism or sarcasm trigger,
As to why they just told what to do and didn't inform in depth, do keep in mind that they were broadcasting to people educated in public schools.

(I went to some private, some public, schools in the 1970s in Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia, and there was a reason private schools filled quickly)
(I had relatives and friends in those areas in the 1990s, pretty much the same tune)

https://www.rtl-sdr.com/rtl-sdr-tutoria ... te-images/
Another idea may be to bypass the middlemen and look at the satellite imagery straight from the satellite.

That looks cool. Thanks for the link.

Prices are cheap
https://www.rtl-sdr.com/buy-rtl-sdr-dvb-t-dongles/

Having your own business solves that problem. I have my own business and I do not have to deal with someone over me telling me to do things I think are dumb. I simply cannot be an employee and feel like I am fulfilling my potential. I do not want to be on my death bed and be disappointed with myself, it would mean I failed at the reason I am here.

I'm working on that.

Sorry if my first reply totally missed the topic. I thought you were talking about the general aversion to instructions and rules, rather than the hurricane itself. Guess I misinterpreted.

Those imperative announcements have various roots. One is simple ass-covering. They don't want to get sued later. Another is ignorance - they don't have the data you need, and they are not confident in prediction. Nor do they have confidence in your own decision making ability, let alone an inventory of your relevant assets. A significant portion of the "authorities" are suffering from Dunning-Kruger, and would do a worse job than many aspies at any but the simplest advice. I can work safely around high voltage, but when a storm brings the power lines down, my help is not welcome because I'm not certified, and would only worry and distract the pros.
Re: your query, I too am far more likely to do something if I'm able to see the reasons for it. There's a lot of wasted motion out there, and if conditions change, I'll need background to respond appropriately.

"If you don't flee this Cat Five hurricane the hurricane will either kill you outright, or leave you stranded and starving where no one can save you because the roads are shut down, and the powerlines are down."

What else do you need to know?

Seriously. You can imagine it all for yourself. So what do you need explained?

And if you're so stupid that you need someone to explain to you in detail why you need to flee a Cat Five hurricane then you're probably too stupid to understand any explanation about anything anyway.

I may need to know how much rain to expect, because my house is underground, or otherwise quite windproof. I may need to know if I would loose my mind in a shelter. I need to decide if I'm willing to face life without my collection of gear, or my wild animal friends, especially if my neighbour stayed and saved his. (This applies more often in fires.) I may need to know if my stock of supplies will be adequate. I may need to know if the roads are clogged anyway. I may need to know where to get gasoline, or a ride. And I'm sure going to want to avoid stupid people without any imagination.

You did not misinterpret.