A few weeks back, I was talking with a woman who complained that she never knows what she is hearing is actually true. She hears something and a few days later learns that it was “fake news.” This is even more troubling when it is news that she relays to other people only to find out later that it was indeed “fake news.” I understand her concern here because I sometimes do the same thing with the same embarrassing results.

My friend blamed the internet as the source of the problem and, at first, I agreed with her. Yes, it would be nice if people only passed on truthful information. It would certainly make life easier but this isn’t neither new nor startling behavior. People were bull shitting long before the internet existed. The problem, as it has always been, is human behavior where there has been a long history of people trading in rumors, half-truths and just general bull shit.

In fact, the internet gives me the power to check on something the moment I hear it and, then, being able to determine whether this is indeed true. Since I have become more diligent at verifying information, I am astounded by how much bad information is passing through the world — even from people who I would normally trust. I can’t tell you how many times I have learned that the information was total bull shit, more often partial bull shit or the irritating taking someone’s statement out of context which is bull shit dressed up as truth.

The lesson here, as it was in the past, is verify before passing on. It is a hard lesson but a valuable one. Only you can prevent bull shit spreading.