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The problem is that people trust their friends on facebook. How do you protect the people who can't use critical thinking to get answers? Using your reasoning,

The problem is that people trust their friends on facebook. How do you protect the people who can't use critical thinking to get answers? Using your reasoning, you might ask why it's bad to let vulnerable elderly individuals be hoodwinked out of their savings. What happened to their responsibility? It seems to me that the people as a body are incapable of managing themselves and so they need safeguards. (Wow, that makes me sound like a dictator.)

dvt 9y ago
> Using your reasoning, you might ask why it's bad to let vulnerable elderly individuals be hoodwinked out of their savings. What happened to their responsibility? It's a bit different because in your case, we're actively reducing harm. You can't just say "censorship will fix it" or "oversight will fix it" unless we're talking about specific scenarios. Which is why, in general censorship and oversight doesn't really fix anything. This is also why laws are very detailed and specific. It would be nice to say "be good to one another" and be done with it.
- stochastic_monk 9y ago
  I agree. It would take a very specific set of interventions. What could do good? A disclaimer every time you log in saying "Pro tip: get your news from reliable sources, not your facebook feed."? Are there any ways people could be prompted to do the right thing? The question is then: what can be done? Just because it's hard to know how to handle the problem doesn't mean we shouldn't try to.
ProAm 9y ago
>The problem is that people trust their friends on facebook. Do they? I don't, most of my friends are idiots (and still my best friends) Isn't that their fault however? The government cannot tell you to trust or distrust your friends. > How do you protect the people who can't use critical thinking to get answers? It's a scary world when you want the government to tell you what you are allowed to read and believe.
- stochastic_monk 9y ago
  1. You're not the problem. (And I wasn't either until I stopped using it years ago.) But many of the rest of people who use facebook are. And that's what makes manipulating them through faux grassroots methods so effective. 2. I didn't say I wanted the government to tell me or other people what they were allowed to read and believe. I'm saying I somehow want something to be done to help people realize that they can't trust everything they read online for unverified sources. You're right that the government can't tell us whether to trust or distrust our friends. But can people be taught to think for themselves? Maybe a better option is adding training to the curriculum specifically designed to teach students how to classify sources by bias and by probable authenticity.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]

dvt 9y ago

> Using your reasoning, you might ask why it's bad to let vulnerable elderly individuals be hoodwinked out of their savings. What happened to their responsibility? It's a bit different because in your case, we're actively reducing harm. You can't just say "censorship will fix it" or "oversight will fix it" unless we're talking about specific scenarios. Which is why, in general censorship and oversight doesn't really fix anything. This is also why laws are very detailed and specific. It would be nice to say "be good to one another" and be done with it.

stochastic_monk 9y ago
I agree. It would take a very specific set of interventions. What could do good? A disclaimer every time you log in saying "Pro tip: get your news from reliable sources, not your facebook feed."? Are there any ways people could be prompted to do the right thing? The question is then: what can be done? Just because it's hard to know how to handle the problem doesn't mean we shouldn't try to.

ProAm 9y ago

>The problem is that people trust their friends on facebook. Do they? I don't, most of my friends are idiots (and still my best friends) Isn't that their fault however? The government cannot tell you to trust or distrust your friends. > How do you protect the people who can't use critical thinking to get answers? It's a scary world when you want the government to tell you what you are allowed to read and believe.

stochastic_monk 9y ago
1. You're not the problem. (And I wasn't either until I stopped using it years ago.) But many of the rest of people who use facebook are. And that's what makes manipulating them through faux grassroots methods so effective. 2. I didn't say I wanted the government to tell me or other people what they were allowed to read and believe. I'm saying I somehow want something to be done to help people realize that they can't trust everything they read online for unverified sources. You're right that the government can't tell us whether to trust or distrust our friends. But can people be taught to think for themselves? Maybe a better option is adding training to the curriculum specifically designed to teach students how to classify sources by bias and by probable authenticity.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]