4 ms·
> It's similar a phenomenon attributed to news: it's confident, and sounds plausible until the topic is on something you know, then you realize it's full of er
by AceJohnny2 4y ago
> It's similar a phenomenon attributed to news: it's confident, and sounds plausible until the topic is on something you know, then you realize it's full of errors.
Reminds me of the "Gell-Mann Amnesia effect" (as penned by Michael Crichton):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Crichton#GellMannAmnesiaEffect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Crichton#GellMannAmnes...
In short: trusting a source on topics you're unfamiliar with, but when the source talks about topics you are familiar with, you realize it's full of errors, but then turn the page and then trust it again on further topics you're unfamiliar with.
- azinman2 4y agoSounds like journalism generally
- nagonago 4y agoThe idea is stated succinctly as Knoll's Law of Media Accuracy: "Everything you read in the newspapers is absolutely true except for the rare story of which you happen to have firsthand knowledge." The earliest instance I found of Erwin Knoll's quote is from 1982[0]. I suspect either Michael Crichton or Gell-Mann had heard this quote, which in turn influenced their discussion. [0] https://www.nytimes.com/1982/02/27/us/required-reading-smith-on-lawyers.html https://www.nytimes.com/1982/02/27/us/required-reading-smith...