Used to be you could count on the information you picked up, say in a bar, or listening to other people's conversations at work, or on the bus or subway. Frankly, I think someone who's been drinking all day in a bar is as likely to tell you the truth as anyone although could be not everyone agrees with that assessment. So, for argument's sake, let's say there could be better sources for important data. For instance, the guy in the pub might have seemed to say something about a catastrophe at the mall, but with all the slurring it sounds a bit like "they have cats for free down the hall." So you're left in a quandary do you worry about the devastation that might have occurred or do you go pick out a new pet? The more sensible among us probably turn to the newspaper or television news programs to get the truth. Well, okay, I guess if you want to think of it that way The Noble Profession of Journalism:"Study reveals 77 television stations aired video news releases without informing viewers even once that the reports were actually sponsored content." from www.InfoShop.org/inews/ "Flaming Mouse Story Found To Be False Rumor Squashed: Flaming Mouse Didn't Start House Fire." from www.wsbtv.com/news/ "TV News Station Caught Inserting False Details Into 'Live' News Story." from www.cuttingedge.org/news/ "Five weeks after Hurricane Katrina rumors repeated uncritically in the news media helped slow the response to the disaster " Washington Post article Truth, Justice, the Internet Way
So where can we turn for truth. The Internet, of course! Certainly, there could be no false information lurking on the medium of the masses. "Congress caught making false entries in Wikipedia." C|Net News.com article. Well, okay. A few tiny little falsehoods may have crept in over time. But there's a Web site dedicated to debunking Internet and email myths Snopes.com. Surely they have exposed any and all lies that might be floating about. Of course, what if Snopes is lying? That would mean Nigerians really are giving away free money for helping them move large sums to American banks, and Bill Gates will send me money just for forwarding an email to everyone in my address book, and the moon landing really was filmed on a soundstage. Oh, my. I thought I was going somewhere with all this. I guess I'm now thinking someone is going to read what I've written here and actually believe it. Then someday, someone will come along and prove that I was completely and utterly wrong not a drop of truth and then I'll have to write about how I'm no longer a reliable source of information. (Here comes the sappy part.) I guess all I can tell you is that the truth lies within each of us. Relying on anyone or any medium to tell you what is true will inevitably lead to disillusionment. Don't let anyone tell you what to believe; find out for yourself. I'm not saying you shouldn't trust people. After all, the guy who's been drinking in a pub all day may really know what he's talking about free cats for everyone! |
