2 ms·

I see what you're saying, and I guess like most, I've experienced both: * A trivial technological problem that leaves my family helpless though it's literally

I see what you're saying, and I guess like most, I've experienced both: * A trivial technological problem that leaves my family helpless though it's literally the first hit on Google * A critical life-impacting issue, usually health but sometimes things like taxes or mortgage or household maintenance - things where trustworthy experts exist and are readily available here - and they go to random sketchy Facebook groups and get random advice from random people (frequently involving Crystals or essential oils but I digress into whole other rant :P )

TheOtherHobbes 5y ago
There seem to be two modes here. There's an objective fact-checking mode, and a personal network of trust mode. This becomes a problem when the personal network is made of people who rely on hearsay, and signals-of-belonging instead of evidence-based information. It's also a problem when "official" experts aren't truly expert, for various possible reasons - including corruption, incompetence, deliberate bad faith, and others. It's hard for people who think in one way to understand that others don't think in the same ways.