3 ms·

That is how false news spread. Yes, there is a difference in that the original comment is much more believable than Bigfoot or Atlantis but offering up a plausi

That is how false news spread. Yes, there is a difference in that the original comment is much more believable than Bigfoot or Atlantis but offering up a plausible statement without proof or source is how society is misinformed. Eventually someone will trust that comment, and start believing in something like that as well, even though it's not really known to be true, and the comment doesn't even make any claim to truthfulness ("many believe..") Ultimately, it could as well be false because it doesn't really say anything, just that many people believe a thing like that, so it's pointless at best and misleading at worst.

Tor3 8y ago
Oh, I agree with that (that a reference should be added). The comparision is still not valid though. As to why false news are spread - no, I do not agree that the reason is that somebody is just claiming something. The reason is that people have stopped checking, in a time when checking is easier than ever before (and in this particular case - some checking will find that although there seems to have been a Troy, the Trojan War, as described by Homer, was probably more of a literary work. So it doesn't make much sense to try to figure out the "reason" behind the war. That doesn't take much googling.)
PhasmaFelis 8y ago
All that may be true, but there was no call to be such a jerk about it. Something like "Interesting, but I'm skeptical--do you have a source for that?" would have worked just fine, instead of implying that OP was as dumb as Loch Ness Monster believers.
noncoml 8y ago
I used “many believe” because it is very difficult or impossible to know. Do you know what was the real reason behind the war against Iraq? If anything “many believe” should nudge you to do your own research. Or you can complain about “fake news” or “trolls” or whatever is the phrase du jour to discredit strangers over the internet.

Tor3 8y ago

Oh, I agree with that (that a reference should be added). The comparision is still not valid though. As to why false news are spread - no, I do not agree that the reason is that somebody is just claiming something. The reason is that people have stopped checking, in a time when checking is easier than ever before (and in this particular case - some checking will find that although there seems to have been a Troy, the Trojan War, as described by Homer, was probably more of a literary work. So it doesn't make much sense to try to figure out the "reason" behind the war. That doesn't take much googling.)

PhasmaFelis 8y ago

All that may be true, but there was no call to be such a jerk about it. Something like "Interesting, but I'm skeptical--do you have a source for that?" would have worked just fine, instead of implying that OP was as dumb as Loch Ness Monster believers.

noncoml 8y ago

I used “many believe” because it is very difficult or impossible to know. Do you know what was the real reason behind the war against Iraq? If anything “many believe” should nudge you to do your own research. Or you can complain about “fake news” or “trolls” or whatever is the phrase du jour to discredit strangers over the internet.