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Fake news are good for society because it forces people to triple check when they wanna know something. Not all people will triple check everything, but it's be

by toldyouso2022 4y ago

Fake news are good for society because it forces people to triple check when they wanna know something. Not all people will triple check everything, but it's better than a society of people believing whatever comes from authority. Also censorship is bad and all that. Thank you fake news!

system2 4y ago
Unfortunately people are not as evolved as you think. They still believe fake news.
- blooalien 4y ago
  Worse than just believing it … these days they can (nearly) instantaneously share it to zillions of other people around the world many of whom will also believe (and re-share) it, and few in that chain will bother to fact-check it themselves, and of those few, even fewer will take the time to call out the error / misinformation, and even if they do, they'll almost instantly be shouted down and ridiculed by all those who just outright refuse to see facts when they really really want to believe a lie. This of course leads the average "volunteer" fact-checker to just sooner or later give up even trying to fight the growing waves of "fake news", and keep their fact-checking to themselves; Not good for anyone.
  - zizee 4y ago
    A lie can travel halfway around the world before the truth puts on its shoes - Mark Twain
    - martinpw 4y ago
      Actually it seems that quote may have originated from Johnathan Swift not Mark Twain, although almost everyone attributes it to Mark Twain. Which is rather nicely recursive given the subject of the quote. https://professorbuzzkill.com/twain-lie-travels/ https://professorbuzzkill.com/twain-lie-travels/
      - denton-scratch 4y ago
        The quote doesn't look like Swift's style of English; so I read that buzzkill article. What buzzkill attributes to Swift isn't the quote (or its origins), but the sentiment. Swift has nothing to say about how long it takes to put on shoes. That style of English looks to me like Twain.
        martinpw 4y ago
        Well the article also says there is no evidence Mark Twain ever said it.
      - blooalien 4y ago
        There are actually quite a few quotes attributed to Twain (and Einstein, and Lincoln, and many famous "others") that may or may not have been said first (or at all) by the people they're attributed to. Interesting "rabbit hole" to explore for those into that sort of thing…
andrewflnr 4y ago
This only works well if people are punished with a short feedback cycle for believing fake news. Unfortunately this is not the case, so they don't learn in time to prevent had info from causing massive damage. I'm honestly inclined to agree with you for the really obvious stuff, but covid disinformation killed a lot of people.
downboots 4y ago
Reminiscent of the broken window fallacy

system2 4y ago

Unfortunately people are not as evolved as you think. They still believe fake news.

blooalien 4y ago
Worse than just believing it … these days they can (nearly) instantaneously share it to zillions of other people around the world many of whom will also believe (and re-share) it, and few in that chain will bother to fact-check it themselves, and of those few, even fewer will take the time to call out the error / misinformation, and even if they do, they'll almost instantly be shouted down and ridiculed by all those who just outright refuse to see facts when they really really want to believe a lie. This of course leads the average "volunteer" fact-checker to just sooner or later give up even trying to fight the growing waves of "fake news", and keep their fact-checking to themselves; Not good for anyone.
- zizee 4y ago
  A lie can travel halfway around the world before the truth puts on its shoes - Mark Twain
  - martinpw 4y ago
    Actually it seems that quote may have originated from Johnathan Swift not Mark Twain, although almost everyone attributes it to Mark Twain. Which is rather nicely recursive given the subject of the quote. https://professorbuzzkill.com/twain-lie-travels/ https://professorbuzzkill.com/twain-lie-travels/
    - denton-scratch 4y ago
      The quote doesn't look like Swift's style of English; so I read that buzzkill article. What buzzkill attributes to Swift isn't the quote (or its origins), but the sentiment. Swift has nothing to say about how long it takes to put on shoes. That style of English looks to me like Twain.
      - martinpw 4y ago
        Well the article also says there is no evidence Mark Twain ever said it.
    - blooalien 4y ago
      There are actually quite a few quotes attributed to Twain (and Einstein, and Lincoln, and many famous "others") that may or may not have been said first (or at all) by the people they're attributed to. Interesting "rabbit hole" to explore for those into that sort of thing…

andrewflnr 4y ago

This only works well if people are punished with a short feedback cycle for believing fake news. Unfortunately this is not the case, so they don't learn in time to prevent had info from causing massive damage. I'm honestly inclined to agree with you for the really obvious stuff, but covid disinformation killed a lot of people.

downboots 4y ago

Reminiscent of the broken window fallacy