5 ms·

Let's be frank: Every source of information is tainted when it comes to topics where political interests play a role. Simply because part of politics is misinfo

by Kenji 10y ago

Let's be frank: Every source of information is tainted when it comes to topics where political interests play a role. Simply because part of politics is misinformation and dogmatism, and it's nearly impossible to strip that off the information. As soon as the outcome of the research or investigation benefits or harms someone, there are very strong incentives to warp the results. The best thing we can do is collect all the raw evidence we have and let the people decide for themselves - but then again, evidence can also be altered or faked.

merpnderp 10y ago
"Every source of information is tainted when it comes to topics where political interests play a role." This times 100. Politics tends to cover things that aren't readily testable in scientifically repeatable ways. So decisions must be made on principles or ideologies which shade every topic. And since people are now basing their decisions on unprovable "facts" or claims, the line becomes fuzzy on what to believe and not to believe. So people tend to believe what reinforces what they already believe.
kej 10y ago
You don't even have to skew the results, you can impart bias just by choosing which stories to research. I've always liked the way Howard Zinn put it in the afterword to A People's History of the United States: >But there is no such thing as a pure fact, innocent of interpretation. Behind every fact presented to the world—by a teacher, a writer, anyone—is a judgment. The judgment that has been made is that this fact is important, and that other facts, omitted, are not important.
- mod 10y ago
  You would be imparting a bias on some scale, sure. But to anyone wanting to verify a certain claim, you would impart no bias (they would land on your site, verify the claim, and leave), so long as you were honest & accurate.

5 ms·

Let's be frank: Every source of information is tainted when it comes to topics where political interests play a role. Simply because part of politics is misinfo

by Kenji 10y ago

merpnderp 10y ago
"Every source of information is tainted when it comes to topics where political interests play a role." This times 100. Politics tends to cover things that aren't readily testable in scientifically repeatable ways. So decisions must be made on principles or ideologies which shade every topic. And since people are now basing their decisions on unprovable "facts" or claims, the line becomes fuzzy on what to believe and not to believe. So people tend to believe what reinforces what they already believe.
kej 10y ago
You don't even have to skew the results, you can impart bias just by choosing which stories to research. I've always liked the way Howard Zinn put it in the afterword to A People's History of the United States: >But there is no such thing as a pure fact, innocent of interpretation. Behind every fact presented to the world—by a teacher, a writer, anyone—is a judgment. The judgment that has been made is that this fact is important, and that other facts, omitted, are not important.
- mod 10y ago
  You would be imparting a bias on some scale, sure. But to anyone wanting to verify a certain claim, you would impart no bias (they would land on your site, verify the claim, and leave), so long as you were honest & accurate.