[HN Gopher] 'Belonging Is Stronger Than Facts': The Age of Misin...
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       'Belonging Is Stronger Than Facts': The Age of Misinformation
        
       Author : throwkeep
       Score  : 8 points
       Date   : 2021-05-07 20:30 UTC (2 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.nytimes.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.nytimes.com)
        
       | ergot_vacation wrote:
       | The problem is not misinformation. The problem is that people no
       | longer trust "experts," "authority," "scientists" etc as much as
       | they used to, because that trust was betrayed. When you lie to
       | people repeatedly about something important, they stop trusting
       | you. That's why we have that story about the boy and wolves.
       | 
       | Stop blaming the public for believing "misinformation" and
       | "conspiracy theories." In the past few years, many of those
       | "conspiracy theories" have turned out to be more truthful than
       | what you were telling them. They're just being rational actors.
       | 
       | If you (the media establishment) want your relevancy back, you're
       | not going to get it by insulting your former audience at higher
       | and higher volume. If you want people to start listening to you
       | again, you're going to have to stop lying for money (or at least
       | drastically cut down on it). Barring that, you will continue to
       | fade into obsolescence, replaced with a field of new info
       | sources.
        
         | haram_masala wrote:
         | This could use some specific examples to illustrate the
         | phenomenon. I can think of a few from recent memory:
         | 
         | - The way Obamacare was sold to the public, which was highly
         | deceptive. See ACA architect Jonathan Gruber's comments about
         | how it passed because of the voters' "stupidity."
         | 
         | - The CDC telling us not to wear masks because they wouldn't
         | help, and then telling us to wear them; and finding out that
         | the first recommendation was an intentional lie.
         | 
         | - Pretty much everything the media reports about race.
        
         | uniqueid wrote:
         | That sounds like a load of received ideas from Alex Jones and
         | other internet dingbats. The problem is misinformation. Each
         | passing year since the dawn of social media has made it clearer
         | and clearer that 'the public' has the intelligence of a fucking
         | shoehorn.
        
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       (page generated 2021-05-07 23:01 UTC)