We are living in the Misinformation Age.
Information is everywhere. Internet, television, newspapers, magazines, radio, billboards — the list goes on and on. Even if you wanted to avoid it, you couldn’t.
On the whole, information isn’t that bad. It tells you where to buy a car, how to get from point A to point B and who won the World Series. But improving technology allows nearly anyone to say or write anything they want.
Which is great, right? That way, we can truly express ourselves freely. The marketplace of ideas.
Yeah, that’s all good, as long as you are expressing an opinion. But what about passing free expression off as fact?
The Internet shows how easy it is to release information to the public. Anyone can construct a Web page explaining how the U.S. government has developed a top secret genetic device that allows the CIA to read people’s thoughts. You can add “blueprints” and a document “signed” by President Clinton to the page with “TOP SECRET” boldly inscribed at the top, just to convince any skeptics. And voila, you have information.
Not everyone would be convinced, but you might be surprised at how many would. In general, people believe that if it looks like information, it must be TRUE information.
Negative. Misinformation happens frequently. It may even have happened to you, and you may not even know it.
However, misinformation requires that the author of the information is deliberately misleading the audience to believe something other than the truth. A good example of misinformation is when salespeople try to convince you to buy something.
But you almost expect that from a salesperson.
So, in order to avoid being misinformed, you must only accept information that comes from a reliable source. Wait a minute. What about the picture of O.J. Simpson on the covers of Newsweek and Time magazine? These are considered reputable sources, but it was obvious that the pictures were doctored.
You could tell because it was the exact same picture, except one was darkened to give him an intense, shadowy countenance and the other was lightened, making him look wide-eyed and innocent. Again, misinformation. No one knew the truth about O.J., and yet both magazines were trying to portray guilt or innocence rather than just his face.
Even reliable sources screw up.
There is also the obvious fiction in supermarket tabloids. They try to convince us that UFOs landed in Texas and that a woman gave birth to a monkey in New York. This is misinformation at its peak. But anyone who believes that tabloids have an ounce of truth in them has my sympathy.
And let’s not forget the ever-popular, quick-advice magazines. Who hasn’t waited in the grocery line to buy that 10-pound package of ramen noodles and turned to read “Tips on How to Have Great Sex!” “Lose 20 pounds in 6 days without dieting!” And the ever-popular, “10 Great Makeup Tips!”
The truth is, if you want great sex you have to work at it, again and again and again. To lose weight, stop eating cold pizza for breakfast. Get a free makeover at Nordstrom’s; as the professional works on your face, keep notes and repeat the technique at home. Wow! All that advice and I haven’t read one of those magazines. My secret? Common sense.
The moral of the story — take what you see, hear and read with a grain of salt. Be cautious consumers of information; don’t gobble down every bit as if it is all the same. There is a difference between digesting a Double Deluxe Hamburger and shoe leather. If you take in everything, you may get indigestion.