OR... FACT-CHECKING IS TODAY'S WAVE OF THE FUTURE!
(and yesterday's and tomorrow's)
1. Well, friends ---
I was really looking forward to it -- until I checked. Tomorrow was supposed to be the BIG night!
But this article says it all: http://www.iflscience.com/space/no-mars-will-not-appear-large-full-moon-night-sky
And, Wikipedia reaches back and shows us that this hoax has been in play, at least since 2003. Here, see for yourselves.
And, of course, Google chimed in with 117 million results -- I didn't check them all, but the first page was consistently certain that this is a hoax. I'm satisfied.
2. Just saying...
It seems a dreadful waste of human energy to concoct and spread these quite-often harmful hoaxes and rumors -- both for the few senders who do the mischief and for the busy, unwary multitude of receivers who have mud pointlessly thrown in their faces.
I find it to be a full-time job, just managing good information. Sorting out the bad stuff compounds the complexity and deters people from doing what they might otherwise have done with the same energy and time That can't be a typically good thing to do. How does that help anyone better themselves -- pursue their rightful well-being? It doesn't. IT HINDERS FELLOW HUMANS.
Therefore, it's immoral. Quite so!
Oh well, human nature is human nature until we figure out how to discipline its harmful excesses. Add another social duty to our to-do list, good citizens!
If you are not aware, there are at least THREE excellent, easy-to-reach, basic fact-checking tools -- worthy of any conscientious power-user's toolkit -- to help us screen garbage out and stop its spread, dead in its tracks:
Snopes.com is a reliable, excellent fact-checker that seems to quickly dispel almost every "urban legend." They're that good, well-connected, and powerful. Never heard of Snopes? Here are some reviews. I testify that I have used this magnificent free service for years and it hasn't let me down yet. And, if Snopes doesn't know something, chances are, other fact-checkers may have something to contribute. I see them as a fine, public-spirited team.
A simple set of Google searches, that ask better and better questions -- until the right answer can be made to appear -- is a very effective way to get a pretty good handle on most any subject.
And, of course, never, never underestimate the Wikipedia blessing.
There are thousands, no, MILLIONS of good-hearted souls out there who are more than able and willing to FREELY (or at lowest possible cost) help us maintain the purity of the precious human knowledge base (HKB) -- while not exploiting our vital dependence on good information "insurance."
TO DO THE BEST GOOD, WE NEED THE BEST INFORMATION WE CAN GET. The truism "garbage in, garbage out" is an irrefutably invaluable and simple and imminently practical guideline.
TO DO THE BEST GOOD, WE NEED THE BEST INFORMATION WE CAN GET. The truism "garbage in, garbage out" is an irrefutably invaluable and simple and imminently practical guideline.
4. I respectfully submit that it's everyone's job to keep that awesome human treasure -- that HKB -- uncontaminated and useful.
We're all "supposed" to be
FACT-CHECKERS and HKB-protectors.
David Nelson
All Original Content © 2014, The MENTOR Enterprises / ELMS, All Rights Reserved. BUT, I hereby waive those rights, to this extent: You may freely copy and pass this along -- and are urged to do so -- as long as it's all done free of charge, unchanged, you include this statement, AND you inform me as to how it is being used -- at YOUR convenience but, hopefully soonest.
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