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> Will the Ebola virus go airborne? > Experts say the possibility remains remote. Seems like the article is acknowledging Betteridge's Law of Headlines in the
by ph0rque 12y ago
> Will the Ebola virus go airborne?
> Experts say the possibility remains remote.
Seems like the article is acknowledging Betteridge's Law of Headlines in the subtitle. Very convenient!
- fasteo 12y agoJust for reference (I did not know about it) Betteridge's Law: "Any headline which ends in a question mark can be answered by the word no." [1] [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge's_law_of_headlines http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge's_law_of_headlines
- ilitirit 12y ago"Betteridge's observation of some headlines that end in question marks" This "law" fails many tabloid-style headlines, and other obvious cases. eg. "Where's the money?" (headline about corruption involving tax-payer money) "Is Betteridge's Law of headlines ever worth invoking?" "Manchester United: Will they ever return to form?"
- delecti 12y agoBetteridge's Law of Headlines should really be referenced more often with clickbaity titles like this.
- twoodfin 12y agoI wish either the title requirements or HN users with sufficient karma could allow/add a @SavedYouAClick-style tag to these stories that would list on the front page ("Will the Ebola Virus Go Airborne? [Probably Not]"), rather than having the Betteridge's Law of Headlines discussion in every such thread.
- delecti 12y agoAgreed, that would be even better still.
- danielweber 12y agoSomeone was collecting all the times it got references on HN. It was useful the first few times, after that it became a race to see who could post "FRIST", er, "BETTERIDGE" in each comment section.
- nether 12y agoReally? It's a pretty standard HN circlejerk to mention it. That and correlation vs causation, and "submarine" articles. I think Betteridge's Law is mentioned more than enough, considering how often it fails.