Father Orthoduck keeps receiving e-mails, some of several megabytes which all swear that something is true. They either repeat a story or they will even send a video to back up the point that is being made. We know, of course, that a picture is worth a thousand words, therefore if there is a video or a photograph attached, it must really be true. About a year and a half ago there was a video of a famous male adult watching the rear end of a teenager in what appeared lascivious fashion as she walked by. So it must be true, right?
Most of the people who endlessly pass on the material never check it out. Sadly most of the material is untrue. It is either something that was said in a different context or something that was never said or something that was “verified” using a photograph (or video) that was altered in some way. The video of the male adult, and stills from it actually made it to the news. However, videos are two dimensional while real life is three dimensional (or several more, depending on string theory). A video from a different camera angle finally showed that the male was turning to respond to someone talking to him offscreen who was at a completely different angle from the minor’s rear. But when you record three dimensions unto two dimensions (video or photograph) reality is distorted. We have always rumors and old wive’s tales, but the internet has allowed us to take those to a whole new level.
There are several websites that have existed for years that track urban legends. Some are located in universities, but some are simply individual efforts. Among the best of the websites is Snopes, a website that has existed for over two decades and is highly reliable. Snopes will even tell you when a particular e-mail popped up on the web, and the history of its transmission, sometimes over the course of decades. They can often even tell you when the wording of a story changed or when additional “details” were added to the story. Even a popular TV series, Mythbusters on the Discovery Channel, has sprung up to test some of the more interesting of the myths running around. They have developed a reputation for blowing something up just about every episode. But, the episode is very educational in that they explain how the tests are run and why a myth is either confirmed or debunked.
Sadly, all too many of the people who forward the false e-mails either do not check them out or do not care. Father Orthoduck is convinced that they often do not care because the e-mail being forwarded simply confirms some belief or even some sinful bias that the sender has. And, since it is on the web, it must be true, regardless of any proof to the contrary. Father Orthoduck recently had an experience of having an e-mail forwarded to him that was not only false, but encouraged xenophobia. Having had enough, Father Orthoduck sent an e-mail back to every person on the header with a link to the Snopes website where it was pointed out that not only was the story not true, there was not even a shred of validity to it. Snopes even posted links to letters from people supposedly involved saying that no such incident had ever happened, nor had they ever either witnessed or participated in it, as the e-mail claimed. There were no police or news record of any such event (and it was supposed to be a big one), etc. The effort was not successful. Father Orthoduck continues to receive forwarded e-mails from more than one of the people on the list that continue to speak of events that cannot be confirmed as though they were the absolute truth. If it is on the web, it must be true.
In passing, Father Orthoduck has another problem now. You realize that you are reading Father Orthoduck’s post on the internet? GRIN. So, Father Orthoduck suggests that you check out what he said and be careful with it. In fact, Father Orthoduck suggests that you check out all e-mails that are forwarding a story. Further, he suggests that you check out the Scriptural injunctions against gossip and false testimony. In fact the injunction against false testimony is one of the Ten Commandments. “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” All too many of us are willing to say that that commandment does not apply to the internet or to “innocently” passing on a deliberately malicious e-mail.
In the early days of email I had it as my personal “mission” to reply to any “YOU MuST REaD TH1S NOW!!” junk email with a link to Snopes, or to David Emory’s Urban Legend site (http://urbanlegends.about.com, which I prefer to Snopes, and recommend). Most of the time I got a thankful reply back, but sometimes I got “who do you think you are?”. 🙂 Now days, I just hit the delete.