Just How Hard is it to be an Expert? Not Hard at All, Apparently

[Tharic-Nar]

If you have ever read news online, and chances are good that you have if you're still breathing, you've no doubt seen a countless number of sources quoted. It could be a story about an accident that happened downtown, an article about how people with the messiest desks work the most efficiently or a tech story about a huge acquisition. Quotes are a fact of the news, but here's a question for you: what if the quotes and sources are fake?

You can read the rest of our post and discuss here.

[Big Red Machine]

Oh boy. If ever there's going to be a reason for the fall of our civilization, one of the reasons is going to be the absolute decay of journalism. There's a reason why freedom of the press is protected by the US Constitution (not to get too political here, sorry).

If we can't trust our information (because of how easily our sources of info can be co-opted and manipulated, whether maliciously or as part of a harmless social experiment as Mr. Holiday seems to have done), what do we really have?

[madmat]

There is no such thing as an expert. X is an unknown factor and a spurt is a shot in the dark.

[Rob Williams]

Originally Posted by Big Red Machine

If we can't trust our information (because of how easily our sources of info can be co-opted and manipulated, whether maliciously or as part of a harmless social experiment as Mr. Holiday seems to have done), what do we really have?

It's a sad fact that this kind of thing will happen, and we'll not be the wiser. It's the reason that when I see someone make a rather outlandish comment, I do research to come to my own conclusion. It makes no sense to read something and settle it at just that, especially when it comes to opinions (the subject matter doesn't have to be serious, of course). Without doing research, you can really look like an idiot later on if the subject ever comes up (I know this first-hand, haha).

I mentioned Facebook in the post because this is a place that this kind of thing happens all the time. I couldn't recount the number of times that I see some image with text on it stating some "fact" that isn't even true. I've even debunked these "facts" in a comment, and guess what? More people shared the post after that, totally disregarding the fact that I debunked it!

"It's true, I saw it on the Internet."

[Big Red Machine]

Originally Posted by Rob Williams

It's a sad fact that this kind of thing will happen, and we'll not be the wiser. It's the reason that when I see someone make a rather outlandish comment, I do research to come to my own conclusion. It makes no sense to read something and settle it at just that, especially when it comes to opinions (the subject matter doesn't have to be serious, of course). Without doing research, you can really look like an idiot later on if the subject ever comes up (I know this first-hand, haha).

I mentioned Facebook in the post because this is a place that this kind of thing happens all the time. I couldn't recount the number of times that I see some image with text on it stating some "fact" that isn't even true. I've even debunked these "facts" in a comment, and guess what? More people shared the post after that, totally disregarding the fact that I debunked it!

"It's true, I saw it on the Internet."

I trust none of what you just wrote.