Keep a Healthy Skepticism for the Internet

I ran into this January 3rd post on Google+ by The Secret Funny Laughter, and headlined with:

Man Saved Dog's Life. #reallifeheroes

It was one of those `hot and recommended posts, and as of this moment it has 1716 pluses and 666 shares.  On January 4th, I was one of those pluses and shares:

Hmm, this man happened to have a cutting device in his hand... interesting.

This elevator scene looks rather staged.  Yet, a lot of people love a story such as a man saving a dog's life.   

That same day, a lady observed:

Out of all those comments your the ONLY one that realized the man had a "cutting device" in his hand! I am impressed! 

Oh, thank you, Filene! I suppose it's good to keep some healthy skepticism with things that we see or hear.

(image credit)

In a related note, early last month I posted Eva Wiseman's article When fiction becomes fact: can we trust the internet?

I was sitting at a table last summer being patronised, lovingly. My friends were explaining, fact by splash of cold-water fact, how a recent TV special by a renowned celebrity hypnotist was performed by actors, and was not, in fact, magic at all. "But," I stuttered, as their mouths moued. "Then there's no point." Television itself is an illusion. To add yet more trickery – "real people" played by actors, things that say they're live but were filmed last March – defeats the purpose, wringing it of all entertainment. I went on a bit. If it's all showmanship, those men with their minds on, then it's nothing. It's air.

The tomfoolery of TV, film and advertisement is so rampant that we can all cite at least one example of fiction masquerading as fact.  Yet, media content can seem so real, so compelling, so inspiring that we are prone to believe it as untrammeled truth.

Moreover, we human beings are a curious lot.  I remember reading an article criticizing the historic falsehood of the film `Gladiator.  Are you kidding me?  The film is a film.  It is art, and art is creative and imaginative.  That's what art is for, and that's what makes art so enjoyable.  To criticize creativity for not being real was head-pounding baffling to me.

Still I commented on my Wiseman article post:

It's a good idea to keep a dose of skepticism, when it comes to the internet. Dig deeper, if necessary. 

Speaking of the internet...

Thank you for reading, and let me know what you think!

Ron Villejo, PhD