Three steps on how to tell truth from baloney

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Have you ever heard a story so exciting you wanted to share it right away? Something like a shark swimming up a flooded highway?

An image that seems to show just that was shared by many people after Hurricane Ian struck Florida in 2022. It was also widely shared after Hurricane Harvey hit Houston, Texas, in 2017. It’s a fake; a flooded highway image combined using photo editing software with one of a great white shark. The fact-checking website Snopes found it circulating as far back as 2011 after Hurricane Irene slammed Puerto Rico.

Truth can be tricky to determine. Every message you read, see or hear comes from somewhere and was created by someone and for someone.

-snip-

When deciding whether to trust a piece of information, it’s good to start with three main questions: who said it, what evidence did they give and how much do you want to believe it? The last one might seem a little strange, but you’ll see why it’s important by the end.

https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/comment-three-steps-on-how-to-tell-truth-from-baloney/

[Ocelot II]

1. The most important of these is "Do I want to believe it?"

Confirmation bias is a trap any of us can fall into; it's why satirical pieces are often posted as news until somebody notices that they came from The Onion or some other humor site. If the item includes negative information that you want to believe about someone you don't like, double-check the source. These days, as TFG's celebrity dinner guests are bragging about being actual Nazis while he declares he wants to tear up the Constitution, it's becoming more difficult to separate reality from satire, but always check.

[Me.]

2. I Think THe Third One Is Dead On

and explains why, when they know it isn't true they spout it anyway....it's because they want it to be true and then they use it as an excuse to otherize people who they feel are unlike them, groups they don't like or to justify their predilections.

[mahina]

3. This is great!

[Jade Fox]

4. For awhile now...

I have thought that a big problem with MAGAs is their inability to distinguish good information from bad. For me, this ability is the definition of a being a critical thinker.

Love this article.

[Stargazer99]

7. Did the public know that Texas took critical thinking

out of their school system? Over 10 years ago.....makes you wonder if we are not being gas lighted by the those in control

[alwaysinasnit]

5. K&R Excellent post.

[ret5hd]

6. I wish they would do the same article BUT...

geared more towards older readers and more focused on news/politics etc.

I would like to get my parents to read and REALLY digest something like this. My parents would stop reading after after the seeing the focus on gaming. (hey, people in their late 80s don't care and the whole concept turns them off...it's not their fault)

I was talking with my mom the other day...crime came up:

I asked if crime is worse now than in the 1990's. "NOW!" Well, you are wrong...pulled up some statistics and read some to her.

I asked if crime was worse in California or her state. "CALIFORNIA!" Pulled up some more statistics and read them to her.

I asked if she realized she is being lied to from almost everyone she listens to. She said "what if you are the one being lied to?" I replied "I can pull up the data from non-biased agencies that is collect it from every area around the country,,,sometimes down to the precinct level. Data that has been peer reviewed. If it was wrong outside of a reasonable margin of error ALL of your sources would be screaming about it every evening. But they don't because they can't."

She had nothing to say after that.