By now, all of us are aware that you can find many false claims on the Internet. Yet, at one time or another, we have all been taken in by an Internet myth, by both print stories and by video stories. Why is this so? Well, there are several reasons:
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Let’s face it. Incredible things really do happen. A flight attendant really fell 33,000 feet and survived. It happened in 1972 when a Czech airplane exploded.
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New discoveries that appear amazing or intriguing happen every year. For instance, see:
Because of the frequent advances that are made and the speed of communications, we are accustomed to hearing about new theories, new discoveries, new technology. We open to believing seemingly improbable things, precisely because the improbable tends to become the possible, eventually. This is what opens us to also be fooled. And, there are plenty of people out there quite willing to fool us.
Oddly enough, it is the very technology that has made the advances possible; it is the reality of incredible events happening that make it possible to fool us. And so, we see a video of something that we would normally not accept as true. But, because it is on video, it must be true. We do not tend to think of the possibility that special effects are being used, particularly if the filmmaker makes the video look homemade. Or we read of a new wonder “drug” that solves a problem we have. And, we fail to read the fine print that says that this is not an FDA approved pharmacological agent, but merely a collection of “natural” ingredients that harness the power present in nature. Or we pass on an Internet story that is cute, amazing, etc., but never check on its truth. Most often this type of story appeals to something we want to believe, or appeals to a prejudice we have but refuse to admit. We do not check the story out on urban legends sites and pass it on, becoming part of the con, and as morally guilty as the original con man. I can remember at least one Internet story making the rounds in which the person supposedly quoted spoke out and confirmed that he had never said or written such a thing. But, there are still people passing the story on, and besmirching that person’s name.
Most often we are fooled when we fail to do a little follow-up investigation. Worse, even when we do a follow-up investigation, many do not know how to apply a scientific method and logic to sift through the various stories and studies in order to arrive at an informed decision. Thus, there are still parents who refuse to vaccinate their children because it could cause autism in them. This despite the fact that the one study that claimed that was disproven years ago, and that the journal that originally published the study has formally withdrawn it, and that no medical association gives any credence to that claim anymore. We are also fooled when something we wish to believe mixes with hidden prejudice. There are still birthers who are convinced that President Obama is an illegal President, despite the amount of evidence showing otherwise. Or we are fooled because we want to believe something. This is most often true of personal health products. Frankly, I want to lose weight without effort. If I could find a pill that would do so for me, I would most certainly buy it. Or perhaps a person wants to grow back missing hair. Or perhaps a person wants …. It is easy to fool us then.
So, this is a plea that you carefully scrutinize news stories, YouTube videos, etc., before you believe in them. Learn some analytical skills. Question something that seems to good to be true. And, be careful if it is something that you want to believe that you are not letting your “want to” lead you astray.
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