Category: Internet

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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.

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A couple of weeks back I saw this Facebook post regarding a dementia cure. Since I knew people dealing with dementia, I watched this video of Sanjay Gupta talking about his father’s remarkable turnaround from dementia with a very simple and natural tonic — honey and some spices all cheaply available without a prescription. The video had an additional warning about how I had better watch now because Big Pharma was going to have the video taken down soon because they didn’t want this cheap cure available when they are spending all this money on research for dementia medications and will fight anyone messing around with their profits.

Sanjay Gupta. Big Pharma as the villain. Cheap cure readily available. Somehow all these ingredients fed into my gullible mind so I sent this link onto some people who were dealing with dementia issues. I did give the caveat that I hadn’t researched it much but, hey, Sanjay Gupta, it was worth a look.

Only it was a large pile of bull shit. In the following days, I began to receive Facebook posts from Clint Eastwood, Michael Caine, Bruce Willis and Steve Martin all making similar claims as the Sanjay Gupta video. And all with the same warning about Big Pharma. At this point, I began to get a little suspicious. These big name individuals could collectively fight Big Pharma if this was genuinely a problem, why haven’t I heard about this? Why isn’t this on the news? So I investigated and found out it was a scam (see link above).

I don’t think of myself as a gullible person but, there it is, I fell for a scam. The scammers fed into my prejudices (Big Pharma) and hopes (an easy cure for dementia). Instead of checking out the information, I let my hopes get the better of me. I saw it, I gave it some credence and then passed on the information to other people. If these people clicked on the link, they are now being flooded with Facebook posts regarding this false dementia cure.

The internet is full of bull shit maybe more bull shit than actual truth. Most of the time I can tell the difference but sometimes a whopper gets by me. I should check out anything before I pass on information. Message received.

Still this experience scares me. It was so easy for me to believe in something that was completely false. As I am getting older, I realize that the scammers are a bit more sophisticated about modern life and more knowledgeable of the latest technology than I am. I feel like I am one Nigerian Prince away from falling hard for these crafty mother fuckers. I feel vulnerable.

Worse still, there is apparently nothing that can be done. The crafty mother fuckers are going to get away with selling their snake oil as they can use all their technological know how to hide themselves and geographical boundaries to protect themselves from the law. They are free to use famous people’s images without their permission. They are free to bilk gullible people out of their money. All we, as a society, can say is you better learn how to take care of yourself which is really no help at all.

In the mean time, I am glad to report that the state of Texas is going after the imaginary problem of children identifying as cats, otherwise know as furries, so that schools are now required to put litter boxes in the classroom so the furries can eliminate their waste. That there is no, and I mean no, verifiable cases of this every happening is besides the point. Action is needed about the furries and action was taken. Deep sigh.