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> Does anyone really believe that today's Internet has improved our ability to winnow truth from misinformation, disinformation, and plain ignorance? Yes, you'

> Does anyone really believe that today's Internet has improved our ability to winnow truth from misinformation, disinformation, and plain ignorance? Yes, you'd have to be completely insane not to think that. It's by far not 100%, and it will never be, however in many parts good high quality information is available that would otherwise be unattainable to the average person. This effect is also amplified the smaller and more remote the community is that you live in. My parents live in a small town in germany, and they rely a lot on me to get basic information about things like operation procedures they will be undergoing, diet advice both in the form of explanations of basic structuring, as well as studies about snake oil products they get offered, prices and quality of random pieces of hardware or technology they see, and the efficacy of gardening advice and tools they get told about by other people in the town. That article reminds me a lot of the old adage that people who begin sentences with "Actually," should rather not be speaking.

soperj 12y ago
It might have improved your ability, but for the vast majority of the people I've met, it certainly hasn't, and for some it even helps them perpetuate their misinformed beliefs.
- aaron695 12y ago
  Do you really think same sex marriage (as it stands) would have been possible without the internet? The internet has made people far more open minded.
  - ck425 12y ago
    I'd be interested to hear your reasoning behind that? I think the increased number of sympathetic and 'normal' gay characters in TV and Film is a bigger factor.
gdubs 12y ago
For people who are already open minded, it's a valuable tool. On the flip-side it can be an amplifier for tightly-held beliefs. Stoll joked in self-deprication that his criticism was coming from a guy who owned five computers and no car -- so, he wasn't anti-technology. Nor do I think he didn't see the positive potential of the internet. There was a lot of hype going around in the late 90's, and his essays were responding to that.
coldtea 12y ago
>Yes, you'd have to be completely insane not to think that Well, I think that, and my doctor agrees that I'm not completely insane. Programming for 15+ years, CS degree et al. >My parents live in a small town in germany, and they rely a lot on me to get basic information about things like operation procedures they will be undergoing, diet advice both in the form of explanations of basic structuring Yeah, nothing like getting medical knowledge and advice from the internet to fight misinformation...
- Mithaldu 12y ago
  > degree et al. I'm sorry to have to inform you that you're not only insane, but also carry an incredible amount of self-confidence to not even once consider that you might be AND to not even try and query points brought up, but to try and straight-up denounce them with sarcasm and though-terminating cliches. You might have a degree, but for some reason you seem to think learning is over for you. If i were american i'd say i pray, but instead i'll just say i hope that at some point someone teaches you how to ask questions and open your mind to the possibility that you do not know everything there is to know.

soperj 12y ago

It might have improved your ability, but for the vast majority of the people I've met, it certainly hasn't, and for some it even helps them perpetuate their misinformed beliefs.

aaron695 12y ago
Do you really think same sex marriage (as it stands) would have been possible without the internet? The internet has made people far more open minded.
- ck425 12y ago
  I'd be interested to hear your reasoning behind that? I think the increased number of sympathetic and 'normal' gay characters in TV and Film is a bigger factor.

gdubs 12y ago

For people who are already open minded, it's a valuable tool. On the flip-side it can be an amplifier for tightly-held beliefs. Stoll joked in self-deprication that his criticism was coming from a guy who owned five computers and no car -- so, he wasn't anti-technology. Nor do I think he didn't see the positive potential of the internet. There was a lot of hype going around in the late 90's, and his essays were responding to that.

coldtea 12y ago

>Yes, you'd have to be completely insane not to think that Well, I think that, and my doctor agrees that I'm not completely insane. Programming for 15+ years, CS degree et al. >My parents live in a small town in germany, and they rely a lot on me to get basic information about things like operation procedures they will be undergoing, diet advice both in the form of explanations of basic structuring Yeah, nothing like getting medical knowledge and advice from the internet to fight misinformation...

Mithaldu 12y ago
> degree et al. I'm sorry to have to inform you that you're not only insane, but also carry an incredible amount of self-confidence to not even once consider that you might be AND to not even try and query points brought up, but to try and straight-up denounce them with sarcasm and though-terminating cliches. You might have a degree, but for some reason you seem to think learning is over for you. If i were american i'd say i pray, but instead i'll just say i hope that at some point someone teaches you how to ask questions and open your mind to the possibility that you do not know everything there is to know.