The problem with social media

MrFliop

Thinker
MrFliop
Joined
Dec 4, 2012
Messages
212
I don’t normally use social media and I rarely have any use for it. However, after checking it again recently it confirmed my fears for a platform where anything can be shared.

Today I went through my Facebook feed and unsurprisingly it was filled with news pages about the recent shooting in Florida. Yet as I was scrolling down I came across no less than 5 Conspiracy related pages and videos but what really caught my attention was the astounding number of times these pages had been shared or viewed. And some were only a few hours old.

The problem that I see here is that in a world were we get our news from our FB feed a person could easily come across some Conspiracy crap deceptively disguised as “an asking questions” page or video.

So basically a Facebook user can click on a conspiracy theory page thinking it’s a legitimate news report and being baited into believing hoax theories.
 
This is actually how I came to learn about 9/11 conspiracy theories. I was looking for some information about the crash at the Pentagon and I came accross a video that I thought would give details about flight 77’s crash. It wasn’t until I was even halfway through the video that I realized it was baiting me into believing NO plane crashed at the Pentagon at all.
 
I say it all the time: it should start with critical thinking courses in middle school and high school. It may be the most valuable course students ever take in their lives. It should cover logical fallacies, problem solving, exposing common biases. Make it a requirement to graduate.


My younger brother was born in the U.S. he can run for political office I encourage him to carry the flag for skepticism.
 
IIIClovisIII said:
I say it all the time: it should start with critical thinking courses in middle school and high school. It may be the most valuable course students ever take in their lives. It should cover logical fallacies, problem solving, exposing common biases. Make it a requirement to graduate.


My younger brother was born in the U.S. he can run for political office I encourage him to carry the flag for skepticism.
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Why wait until middle school? Children need to be taught about marketing influences from as soon as they show an interest in anything that includes commercials of any kind.
 
Skeptic Ginger said:
Why wait until middle school? Children need to be taught about marketing influences from as soon as they show an interest in anything that includes commercials of any kind.
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I assumed maybe they didn't have the attention span or brainpower to start thinking about fallacious arguments and stuff.

Then again, we draw lines in our laws all the time that many times don't make complete sense, age to join or train for the military, age when you can drive a 2000 lb wrecking machine, age to drink, etc.
 
IIIClovisIII said:
I say it all the time: it should start with critical thinking courses in middle school and high school. It may be the most valuable course students ever take in their lives. It should cover logical fallacies, problem solving, exposing common biases. Make it a requirement to graduate.


My younger brother was born in the U.S. he can run for political office I encourage him to carry the flag for skepticism.
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The religious folks would never allow such classes.
 
IIIClovisIII said:
I assumed maybe they didn't have the attention span or brainpower to start thinking about fallacious arguments and stuff.

Then again, we draw lines in our laws all the time that many times don't make complete sense, age to join or train for the military, age when you can drive a 2000 lb wrecking machine, age to drink, etc.
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As to the first sentence, some of us certainly did!!! I was atheist early on as much of what I was being told made no sense (rationally)!!!!
 
The problem with social media is the same problem every human endeavor has: a lot of people are idiots.
 
Porpoise of Life said:
The problem with social media is the same problem every human endeavor has: a lot of people are idiots.
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Yeah but it has the added problem that idiots can communicate with each other and with non-idiots much more readily, to the point where even reasonable people might buy into the idiocy by sheer exposure.
 
I prefer the old days, when idiots were honest and went around saying, "I don't know." Now everybody knows about everything and their opinions can reach millions. The internet - giving idiots a voice since 1991.
 
And the internet has ruined my ability to lie to friends over a beer at the local watering hole when trivia questions come up! It literally takes 20 seconds to check my answer, which is unacceptable! I mean get rid of it if it!

Actually, by that example, the internet is keeping some of my idiot friends from continuing to believe my answers and perpetuate their idiocy. Hmmmm....
 
IIIClovisIII said:
I say it all the time: it should start with critical thinking courses in middle school and high school. It may be the most valuable course students ever take in their lives. It should cover logical fallacies, problem solving, exposing common biases. Make it a requirement to graduate.


My younger brother was born in the U.S. he can run for political office I encourage him to carry the flag for skepticism.
Click to expand...

Some schools start consumer awareness and critical thinking in 2nd grade
 
I dont know if any has noticed, but there has been a massive number of utubers movies and some accounts deleted for pushing conspiracy garbage over the last day or so


Alt-Media Censorship - InfoWars, Richie Allen, Jordan Sather, Ron Johnson, David Seaman gone- Lift the Veil
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2307&v=11S2zqSsWRA


" I've asked Google to reinstate the channel, but also for the opportunity to download all those 1,400 videos, as I am looking at the possibility of using another video sharing platform."
https://www.richieallen.co.uk/google-facebook-censorship-only-draws-more-attention-to-alt-media-galvanises-its-producers/


YouTube Deletes The Richie Allen Show Channel-The Holocaust-Denying Flat Earther
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=arHowpewgNo


Woop woop!!!!!! yay!!!
 
IIIClovisIII said:
I say it all the time: it should start with critical thinking courses in middle school and high school. It may be the most valuable course students ever take in their lives. It should cover logical fallacies, problem solving, exposing common biases. Make it a requirement to graduate.

My younger brother was born in the U.S. he can run for political office I encourage him to carry the flag for skepticism.
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That's a great idea. Likely never happen for fear they'll lose control over the very students they enlighten. Yet, like you said, it could be one of the most valuable lessons they learn in school. Which is another reason they won't include it.

Porpoise of Life said:
The problem with social media is the same problem every human endeavor has: a lot of people are idiots.
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Idiots who never know how idiot they are. If on Facebook you said "Will all the idiots please stand up?", nobody would stand up. Not because they know they're stupid and just want to stay quiet, they really don't know. And while the Internet has been great at allowing those people too much access to the universe, it's been very crappy at eliminating eradicating educating them. :wink:
 
IIIClovisIII said:
I say it all the time: it should start with critical thinking courses in middle school and high school. It may be the most valuable course students ever take in their lives. It should cover logical fallacies, problem solving, exposing common biases. Make it a requirement to graduate.


My younger brother was born in the U.S. he can run for political office I encourage him to carry the flag for skepticism.
Click to expand...

And most students will just see it as another "pass and forget" course they have to take.
 
dudalb said:
And most students will just see it as another "pass and forget" course they have to take.
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See, my reasoning is that people might be able to relate this type of course to everyday life much, much more intuitively than other subjects. And I imagine they'd absorb the concepts pretty quickly.

Most "pass and forget" courses overwhelm low-attentioned teens with formulas and book chapter to read and do problems on.

I think knowledge of what kind of arguments are fallacious and critical decision-making will stick far more easily than algebra or chemistry.
 
The problem with social media is way too much of it is misinformation and lies. Mostly by ******* liars and idiot quoters of same.*








and believers of it......
 
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