I found the article of “(Mis)Information” to be very interesting because I feel the same about the various things the author stated. So much is the information that take in every day is not factual, but yet we still go along with it. Today’s society is greatly influenced by religion, politics, and economics, as the author stated in the article. I agree that the influences of this information are powerful and that people are supporting and believing policies that aren’t in their best interest. Because of the (mis)information of these influences, it causes people to carry on bias “facts” that aren’t in truthful. I also found the author’s causes of inaccurate information to also be interesting including: the bandwagon effect, confirmation bias, base fallacy, and cognitive dissonance. I really agree with the author along the lines of the Bandwagon effect because people have a habit of being copycats. Because of this, people do things because other people are doing it. This very obvious with Facebook but I’m not even going to go there. J
I can remember a time in my life when I believed something and it was not factual at all (and I know I’m not the only one). The belief was that on December 25th, Santa comes to your house, down your chimney, and delivers presents. Santa also was chubby, fat guys who came and ate your cookies and drink a glass of your milk (that has been sitting out…for him). Well, didn’t my parent tell me a lie? I found out that Santa was not real when I saw that my dad was the one eating the cookies, and my mom was the one putting the gifts underneath the tree. I was heartbroken when I found out that my parents were Mr & Miss Claus. But as I grew up, I started getting into church and actually found out the true meaning of Christmas. Christmas is a day to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Also, I discovered that my parents had joined the “bandwagon” when I was younger. Lots of parents trick their kids into thinking that Christmas is all about Santa. Parents believe that if the other parents are doing it, they should do the same for their kids, which I kind of understand because it wouldn’t work well having some kids being in Santa and other kids knowing the actual meaning of Christmas. To avoid conflict, most children believed in Santa because of their parents. As I got older, I guess I jumped on another “bandwagon” because I followed my families/communities religion of Baptist (not like it was my choice to do otherwise).
I feel that the author’s proposal for the ‘Department of Information’ would be beneficial. I would be nice to have a department that would render what the real facts are. But at the same time, I don’t really see how this could happen efficiently. Even if we do have the ‘Department of Information,’ I still believe things will be bias because people have their First Amendment rights. I really don’t see society’s “bias facts” changing any time in the near future. It would take a dyer miracle to get all information in our society to be of pure truth. As for now, I guess we have to deal with some more (Mis)Information.
Not your choice to join another religion besides the Baptist denomination? One of the principles America was founded on was the freedom of religion, not the freedom to indoctrinate your kids. I feel that the department of information would have a lot of trouble with disclaimers and loopholes. Even if the department declares something to be true, I could still say the opposite without claiming it to be a fact by simply adding "Many still believe..."
ReplyDeleteI think you picked a good example. I believed in Santa as well, but I think that is also because as children we are so naiive that we will believe whatever we are told to believe.
ReplyDeleteI too believed in Santa. And I have yet to come across someone that when their parents told them about Santa as a child they refused to believe it. As kids we are taught to believe what we are told, especially by an authority figure. And I also am willing to bet that a lot of people are the same religion as their parents, especially at a younger age, simply because I doubt that when a young child first asks their parents about God and religion their response would be, "Well son/daughter, I do not want to indoctrinate you because this country was founded on a freedom of religion so how about you go find out for yourself". I think parents just teach their children what they know.
ReplyDeleteThe only reason we believed in Santa is because our parents lied to us...that's not really a bandwagon effect it's being a LIED to effect. I love your purple and yellow font!
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