Post ASSqFp48FFdHMOf1yy by Sbectol@toot.wales
 (DIR) More posts by Sbectol@toot.wales
 (DIR) Post #ASSqFnmj0U79O7VcDA by atomicpoet@mastodon.social
       2023-02-08T07:55:18Z
       
       0 likes, 0 repeats
       
       Me: Misinformation on social media is a problem. We should consider how to verify facts!Other people: But if we try to verify facts, fact verification will be abused!Me:
       
 (DIR) Post #ASSqFoIz4Xv10AbNUe by MrLee@aus.social
       2023-02-08T08:26:46Z
       
       0 likes, 0 repeats
       
       @atomicpoet Verification of facts would.Send a powerful message that facts matter  and dishonesty is not something to be simply accepted.We would not need to verify every single post. A small number of people and organisations are responsible for most misinformation out there, so targeting them would have an oversized impact.
       
 (DIR) Post #ASSqFp48FFdHMOf1yy by Sbectol@toot.wales
       2023-02-08T08:36:08Z
       
       0 likes, 0 repeats
       
       @MrLee @atomicpoet I don't understand how facts would be verified.
       
 (DIR) Post #ASSqFpfhzXgrEwF2YK by atomicpoet@mastodon.social
       2023-02-08T08:37:22Z
       
       1 likes, 0 repeats
       
       @Sbectol @MrLee The bigger question is if you believe verifiable facts exist.
       
 (DIR) Post #AST2HIXzJl2GXF5zpA by cjd@pkteerium.xyz
       2023-02-08T10:53:43.104074Z
       
       0 likes, 0 repeats
       
       The more something can be proven, the less it matters.One can irrefutably prove that if George has 2 apples and Sally has two apples then the two of them have 4 apples. But for the 4 apples conclusion to hold, one is forced to believe the assumption that they actually have 2 apples each - which cannot be proven.There are further things which are not formally provable, but which general consensus has been reached (the sky is blue, death is inevitable, crocuses are purple and provide saffron). About these topics, Wikipedia provides an excellent reference.Then there is a third category of things about which consensus does not exist. The 9/11 report is correct and complete, masks are effective, vaccines are effective, lockdowns were necessary, Modern Monetary Theory works, etc.In the 20th century with mass media, things could be placed in the 2nd category more or less by decree, but now thanks to social media - esp. decentralized - there is no consensus until everyone has had their say.Things in the 3rd category DO slowly evolve into the 2nd category as consensus emerges over time, which makes "fact checking" a futile exercise in prediction where even one error is cause for being discredited.But for things which are not settled - which is most everything that matters - one can only either cling to a conclusion and dismiss contrary evidence, or embrace uncertainty and derive decisions based on estimated likelihoods.Clinging to a conclusion is less mental load, but will lead to a certain amount of disastrously bad decisions - so those who embrace uncertainty will dominate the 21st century.tl;dr - yes but not anything that matters.
       
 (DIR) Post #AST5IZ0RuOGDjZhf3g by MrLee@aus.social
       2023-02-08T11:26:43Z
       
       1 likes, 0 repeats
       
       @cjd @atomicpoet @Sbectol It's very hard to reply to a comment,with so many different points! 🙂
       
 (DIR) Post #ASvjU2wIWifqTZYpPc by evbogue@pkteerium.xyz
       2023-02-22T00:32:35.622597Z
       
       1 likes, 0 repeats
       
       I put this thru ChatGPT to see if it could come to some conclusions about it.