#35716 - 02/17/10 10:15 AM
Re: No Singing in the Acid Rain
[Re: Fnord]
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Jake999
senior member
Registered: 11/02/08
Posts: 2174
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Fnord:
There IS a lot of available information, especially on the internet, but unfortunately, there's a lot of DISinformation as well. Kids these days are not adequately taught to use critical thinking skills when reading the information presented to them. I once heard it said that gathering information from books is like sipping from a water fountain, but like trying to drink from a fire hose on the internet. There is A LOT of stuff out there.
Adding to the problem is that information's being presented two ways, either in an almost deadpan "Ben Steinish" delivery, which we usually see in information that has some value, and flashy, brash and blaring hyperbole that we see with people having an agenda and wanting to push it on the web. Print sources give you a "black and white" option... you can put your sources on the table in front of you and read, analyze and discern subtle nuances at your leisure. The web almost actively discourages taking your time and delving deeper into a subject BECAUSE of its ability to present the information (and disinformation) in a flashy way that encourages the viewer to click for more of the same. May the page with the best hype win.
To my mind, some of the disinformation on the web is the result of a morally bankrupt world society that has been lulled into believing that every idea and every crackpot notion DESERVES its own space, and that since "everybody has an opinion," space should be given for them to state it. And they state it as fact with out proof or study. Reading WIKIPEDIA, for example, becomes a study in the suspension of personal disbelief. Instead of becoming the great egalitarian melting pot of information that it was meant to be, it's become pretty much useless as any serious form of information gathering tool, where even people who rail against taking things strictly on "faith" or "belief" regularly do so.
Thanks for trying to lead you kid in the right direction.
_________________________
Bury your dead, pick up your weapon and soldier on.
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