When Toffler wrote “Future Shock” he popularized the term “Information Overload”. We’re seeing examples of this daily from both the media and the Internet. The main problem, IMO, isn’t that people are overloaded with factual information, but that they lack the critical thinking skills to determine fact from fiction, opinion from fact.
If all the cable news sources are reporting that a bomb was sent to Obama, it’s a pretty good bet that a bomb was sent to Obama. If one is saying it’s probably Alt-Right Nazis while another is advancing the idea that it’s a false flag by Soros prior to the election, odds are you’re listening to bullshit.
Good point - when different outlets present conflicting facts, a correction is due from at least one of them - one that is rarely forthcoming. I do think that the sheer sum volume of misinformation plus factual information is more than many individuals can handle, and facilitates an a la carte approach to "fact" selection. I have certainly clicked on or "liked" stuff that turned out to be fake, but have made it a point of focus to try to smell out what's truly rotten. While stuff blowing in from the left is far from pure, it generally has less of the reek of malice that is characteristic of what comes from the right. Apparently one man's rose is another's rotten fish head.
It's usually pretty easy to spot the news in amongst the nonsense - the trick is to look at whether they are telling you what happened, or
how you should feel about what happened.
A news outlet will say something like:
Two people were killed and another three injured today, during a fire at <factory>. Fire crews took over three hours to bring the blaze under control, and a number of nearby businesses had to be evacuated. The cause of the fire is not yet known.
A bullshit outlet would say:
Tragedy today at the <factory>, as a
deadly blaze claims the lives of two
fathers, leaving their
young families in
shock. The
brave crews from the fire department
battled for three hours as the flames
threatened to take hold of other businesses nearby.
Arson has not been ruled out as a possible cause.
I am often surprised by the inability of my friends to spot the significant difference between these two report styles. Personally, I find it rather offensive that Rupert Murdoch's minions have such a low opinion of me that they imagine I won't find the deaths of other people tragic without them prompting me to have that response.
Indeed, I note that the emotional response required is now almost always the first word of a report - it wouldn't do for the viewer to not know how they are supposed to feel until after they find out what happened, now would it?
, sometimes after work and I am bored I play a game. I turn on Sky News and see how long I last until Peta Credlin or Andrew Bolt tell me how I must think, me getting the shits and changing the channel. My record is 3:28, but I was distracted because I was heating something up in the microwave.
