Been a while eh? Well... haven't really had anything strong on my mind. I do need to make another post on alternative medicines... Holistic medicine was the one I was planning on doing next. Just been busy... and not really inspired.
But... I'm inspired now. We've all seen them. The photos passed around, the news links that people get all shocked over.
Like Morgan Freeman being dead - https://www.facebook.com/pages/RIP-Morgan-Freeman/274408782669578
Or the guy on the World Trade Center with a plane behind him - http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/05/Tourist_guy.jpg
Or the newer one about Obama announcing his run for a third term - http://nationalreport.net/obama-announces-plans-third-term-presidential-run/
Or the viral "Privacy Notice" that was passed around on Facebook - http://mashable.com/2012/06/05/facebook-privacy-notice-fake/
They seem/seemed pretty legit right? And they feed into our emotions/beliefs. With Morgan Freeman, it plays into our ethos. Our emotions. He is a great actor and well loved. So the news of his death is something a lot of people will care about... and... of course... why would someone lie about something like that?
The World Trade Center plays onto our love of the shocking. It is shocking. We all know that planes hit the twin towers... and there had to have been people there... and this "found" camera by a tourist with this image on it? It seems plausible, and again, why would someone lie about something like that?
And the last two, politics and privacy. Two VERY strong belief systems here in the US of A. Presidents are extremely polarizing. People either love them or hate them. And both with an absolute passion. So a third term that goes against the 22nd amendment? People will jump on it. And privacy being taken away? Of course they'd do anything to avoid it, to share whatever they needed to in order to keep that privacy.
Nobody stops to think anymore.
I remember my first hoax that really pushed my ideas of what is real and what isn't... when I first watched it... my brain was confused... but I wasn't conditioned to question what news stories or authority figures told me. And so I watched this... and became extremely confused and upset... because it seemed fake... but... it must be real... right?
But instead of just accepting it, I moved on and decided to research... and found out about the Onion, a satirical/fictional "news" source... and from then on, if I see something shared on social media or told by friends/family that sets off my "alarms"... I research it. Sometimes the source can be hard to find... sometimes it's as simple as searching "snopes" along with the topic of interest.
Many others just don't do that... and just accept things as fact, and don't try to see if it's true or false. They share it in their emotionally blinded state and further the incorrect information out there. And then when the true information comes out, it breeds paranoia and distrust.
We wonder why our nation is so uneducated and misinformed... it's because people have stopped thinking for themselves. They don't know how to go to the source anymore... and just look at third party information... even many times removed. They decide that they trust their "friends/family", or a particular "lifestyle"... so will trust anything they say. Just think about all the misinformation floating around with PETA, or among dieters, or the "green/natural" movement, or within religion of any kind.
Sometimes it's a malicious desire of a few people to spread rumors and misinformation, but most of the time it's just a misunderstanding of facts presented by an outside group, that will somehow prove their point/belief, and further their cause.
Religion, politics, and health are particularly rife with these. Here are just a few you may have heard about/seen:
NASA finding a "lost day" - http://www.snopes.com/religion/lostday.asp
Airlines will not pair Christian pilots and co-pilots for fear of the rapture - http://www.snopes.com/religion/pilot.asp
Noah's Ark was discovered in Turkey - http://www.snopes.com/religion/noahsark.asp
Obama is a radical Muslim - http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/muslim.asp
Obama's forged birth certificate - http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/birthers/birthcertificate.asp
Pepsi can omits "Under God" from Pledge of Allegiance - http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/undergod.asp
New US Dollar coins omit "In God We Trust" - http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/dollarcoin.asp
Quran verse about the "Wrath of the Eagle cleaning the lands of Allah" - http://www.snopes.com/politics/war/quran911.asp
Oil pulling - http://www.snopes.com/medical/homecure/oilpulling.asp
Treating Burns with Egg Whites - http://www.snopes.com/medical/homecure/eggwhite.asp
Dangerous Growth Hormone in Milk Sold at Walmart - http://www.snopes.com/medical/potables/walmart.asp
Aspartame Evils - http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/aspartame.asp
Dangers of Canola Oil - http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/canola.asp
Antiperspirant Causes Breast Cancer - http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/antiperspirant.asp
Twinkies have an Indefinite Shelf Life - http://www.snopes.com/food/ingredient/twinkies.asp
Pop Rocks and Soda caused death - http://www.snopes.com/horrors/freakish/poprocks.asp
Warnings about Farm Raised Tilapia - http://www.snopes.com/food/warnings/tilapia.asp
Onions will keep you safe from the flu - http://www.snopes.com/medical/swineflu/onion.asp
And so on and so on and so on.
And no, snopes is not the end-all-be-all. But it is helpful as a STARTING point if there is any information on the subject. Go to the very end of any article and you will find the bibliography. From there you can go straight to the source, and find out yourself. If snopes doesn't have any information, that is where it gets harder to find the source... but there is usually a trail of information that can slowly be directed back to the source.
So... in short, do some research. We live in the age of glorious technology, where you only have to type in a few words into a search bar and you have a wealth of information in front of you. So don't just take what you see at face value. Dig a little deeper, and find out the truth before making assumptions, getting upset, etc. And it could be true. And in that case, by all means, get upset and mad and whatever. But just sharing something you saw someone else post on facebook with the words "OMG!" or "IMPORTANT INFO", not good. I've done it... and wished I could take it back once I found out the truth.
Oh... and go ahead and throw rice at wedding if you want. The birds are fine. ;) I'm not going to give that one to you though... research it on your own.
But... I'm inspired now. We've all seen them. The photos passed around, the news links that people get all shocked over.
Like Morgan Freeman being dead - https://www.facebook.com/pages/RIP-Morgan-Freeman/274408782669578
Or the guy on the World Trade Center with a plane behind him - http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/05/Tourist_guy.jpg
Or the newer one about Obama announcing his run for a third term - http://nationalreport.net/obama-announces-plans-third-term-presidential-run/
Or the viral "Privacy Notice" that was passed around on Facebook - http://mashable.com/2012/06/05/facebook-privacy-notice-fake/
They seem/seemed pretty legit right? And they feed into our emotions/beliefs. With Morgan Freeman, it plays into our ethos. Our emotions. He is a great actor and well loved. So the news of his death is something a lot of people will care about... and... of course... why would someone lie about something like that?
The World Trade Center plays onto our love of the shocking. It is shocking. We all know that planes hit the twin towers... and there had to have been people there... and this "found" camera by a tourist with this image on it? It seems plausible, and again, why would someone lie about something like that?
And the last two, politics and privacy. Two VERY strong belief systems here in the US of A. Presidents are extremely polarizing. People either love them or hate them. And both with an absolute passion. So a third term that goes against the 22nd amendment? People will jump on it. And privacy being taken away? Of course they'd do anything to avoid it, to share whatever they needed to in order to keep that privacy.
Nobody stops to think anymore.
I remember my first hoax that really pushed my ideas of what is real and what isn't... when I first watched it... my brain was confused... but I wasn't conditioned to question what news stories or authority figures told me. And so I watched this... and became extremely confused and upset... because it seemed fake... but... it must be real... right?
But instead of just accepting it, I moved on and decided to research... and found out about the Onion, a satirical/fictional "news" source... and from then on, if I see something shared on social media or told by friends/family that sets off my "alarms"... I research it. Sometimes the source can be hard to find... sometimes it's as simple as searching "snopes" along with the topic of interest.
Many others just don't do that... and just accept things as fact, and don't try to see if it's true or false. They share it in their emotionally blinded state and further the incorrect information out there. And then when the true information comes out, it breeds paranoia and distrust.
We wonder why our nation is so uneducated and misinformed... it's because people have stopped thinking for themselves. They don't know how to go to the source anymore... and just look at third party information... even many times removed. They decide that they trust their "friends/family", or a particular "lifestyle"... so will trust anything they say. Just think about all the misinformation floating around with PETA, or among dieters, or the "green/natural" movement, or within religion of any kind.
Sometimes it's a malicious desire of a few people to spread rumors and misinformation, but most of the time it's just a misunderstanding of facts presented by an outside group, that will somehow prove their point/belief, and further their cause.
Religion, politics, and health are particularly rife with these. Here are just a few you may have heard about/seen:
NASA finding a "lost day" - http://www.snopes.com/religion/lostday.asp
Airlines will not pair Christian pilots and co-pilots for fear of the rapture - http://www.snopes.com/religion/pilot.asp
Noah's Ark was discovered in Turkey - http://www.snopes.com/religion/noahsark.asp
Obama is a radical Muslim - http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/muslim.asp
Obama's forged birth certificate - http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/birthers/birthcertificate.asp
Pepsi can omits "Under God" from Pledge of Allegiance - http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/undergod.asp
New US Dollar coins omit "In God We Trust" - http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/dollarcoin.asp
Quran verse about the "Wrath of the Eagle cleaning the lands of Allah" - http://www.snopes.com/politics/war/quran911.asp
Oil pulling - http://www.snopes.com/medical/homecure/oilpulling.asp
Treating Burns with Egg Whites - http://www.snopes.com/medical/homecure/eggwhite.asp
Dangerous Growth Hormone in Milk Sold at Walmart - http://www.snopes.com/medical/potables/walmart.asp
Aspartame Evils - http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/aspartame.asp
Dangers of Canola Oil - http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/canola.asp
Antiperspirant Causes Breast Cancer - http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/antiperspirant.asp
Twinkies have an Indefinite Shelf Life - http://www.snopes.com/food/ingredient/twinkies.asp
Pop Rocks and Soda caused death - http://www.snopes.com/horrors/freakish/poprocks.asp
Warnings about Farm Raised Tilapia - http://www.snopes.com/food/warnings/tilapia.asp
Onions will keep you safe from the flu - http://www.snopes.com/medical/swineflu/onion.asp
And so on and so on and so on.
And no, snopes is not the end-all-be-all. But it is helpful as a STARTING point if there is any information on the subject. Go to the very end of any article and you will find the bibliography. From there you can go straight to the source, and find out yourself. If snopes doesn't have any information, that is where it gets harder to find the source... but there is usually a trail of information that can slowly be directed back to the source.
So... in short, do some research. We live in the age of glorious technology, where you only have to type in a few words into a search bar and you have a wealth of information in front of you. So don't just take what you see at face value. Dig a little deeper, and find out the truth before making assumptions, getting upset, etc. And it could be true. And in that case, by all means, get upset and mad and whatever. But just sharing something you saw someone else post on facebook with the words "OMG!" or "IMPORTANT INFO", not good. I've done it... and wished I could take it back once I found out the truth.
Oh... and go ahead and throw rice at wedding if you want. The birds are fine. ;) I'm not going to give that one to you though... research it on your own.
