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I notice this quite a bit, and especially with older people. I think they lived during a period when you could easily BS your way through life and it was hard to verify facts in a pinch. But today, so much information is easily accessible and can be found in 2 minutes! Even when corrected with links and evidence proving the contrary, so many of them double down instead of taking a step back, re-evaluating their previously held views, and admitting ignorance. Why is there not more shame and embarrassment from this behavior?
Because even "verified facts" can be cherrypicked, biased, outdated, changed, influenced, fluid, or out of context.
People used to think COVID came from animals, now it's widely accepted it came from a lab leak.
This is a cop out. While I agree that data can be skewed, or information can evolve over time as it did with COVID, most of the time the facts are as stated by whichever scholarly source published them. Believing in the idea that facts are fluid or ambiguous sets up liars nicely with a foundation that "nothing is real" and you shouldn't believe anything (other than what I tell you).
Also, if you truly thought something was awry, then you can always use critical thinking techniques and reason to disprove any misstated facts that have been presented. But remember to cite your sources.
ETA: There are obviously some things you believe to be factually accurate that you carve your life around them. For instance, the science around food, medications, and health is likely something you subscribe to faithfully. Where do you think those facts and data came from, and why do you trust them?
Last edited by digitalUID; 04-07-2023 at 08:21 AM..
I am very easily fooled, even though I am not an older person. It just doesn't enter my mind that the information could be fake. I judge by myself. I don't like to lie and I believe that others don't like it, too. I don't see the point in misleading other people, nor do I see the benefit of lying. When I suddenly encounter conflicting news, I don't know who to believe or how to know which one is lying.
When I heard the information on YouTube about a flat earth, at first I believed it. And then I thought that if the earth were flat, then all the planets in the solar system would be flat, too. But all the other planets are round, the earth can't be some obscure exception. So it is round, too.
I notice this quite a bit, and especially with older people. I think they lived during a period when you could easily BS your way through life and it was hard to verify facts in a pinch. But today, so much information is easily accessible and can be found in 2 minutes! Even when corrected with links and evidence proving the contrary, so many of them double down instead of taking a step back, re-evaluating their previously held views, and admitting ignorance. Why is there not more shame and embarrassment from this behavior?
People don't accept reality for what it is.
People want to change reality to suit what they prefer it to be.
Access to information doesn't make that much of a difference.
It depends what you're talking about. Some "facts" aren't really factual.
Most are though. You can't point to a handful of statistical errors and say, "See, I told you everything they tell you is a myth". Reality doesn't work that way.
Most are though. You can't point to a handful of statistical errors and say, "See, I told you everything they tell you is a myth". Reality doesn't work that way.
But would you believe it if it didn't align with your own views?
There's a phrase for this psychological condition called cognitive dissonance.
Clearly you believe in some things though. Whether it's the medicine(s) your doctor prescribes you, a balanced diet, exercise, gravity, a round Earth... So you have the ability to come to conclusions based on the evidence or facts that are provided to you. Why do you choose some and not others? What's the deciding factor for you?
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