A lot of stories on the internet are bullsh*t...
So how do you decide which ones you should actually take seriously? I'm genuinely curious. How do you separate the good stories/articles/etc from all the crap out there?
18 Comments
Don't watch CNN as they don't tell the truth, don't watch DramaAlert because Keemstar is idiotic. Watch Philip DeFranco
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Multiple sources. Never trust a single source, no matter how reliable it has been in the past. Even if they genuinely believe what they are reporting, people make mistakes.
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Sanity checking. Even if multiple sources are reporting the same thing, does it sound reasonable? Check similar situations in the past or other things. (This is separate from the first because it's about facts; if, for example, a bunch of outlets report that today was the coldest day on record and it wasn't really that cold, check wikipedia for the record.)
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Reliability. Has this source regularly passed both of the first two checks in the past? Has it regularly failed them? If a source regularly fails to report reliable news, stop counting it as a source for the purpose of the previous tests. If I see an article from the daily mail, I really don't give a shit what it says until I see corroboration from a real news source.
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Think for yourself. Even if everyone is reporting the same thing, sometimes false information just gets swept up. Don't mindlessly believe anything, no matter how many outlets are reporting it. Use their reporting to find better, provably true assertions, and use those to form your opinion. (This is basically the 'treat reporting the way academic papers want you to treat wikipedia' method. News articles are great for that superficial bit, but for real serious stuff, you want something that isn't part of the 24-hour news cycle.)
Everything on the internet is a lie
If you believe CNN then you are a lost cause. :>
Take a critical thinking class or look up fallacies is actually want you want to do first.
Cross referance, But try to not take any Sides or Views. If someone says "X is a disaster waiting to happen" While another says "X is a dream come true", Focus on X, Not the views.
... why would anybody lie on the internet???
Dig into their sources, read MANY opposing viewpoints, dig into their sources, and then you draw your own conclusion as long as there is no such thing as a 100% correct answer. If someone tries to tell you that 2+2 does NOT equal 4, then just entertain the idea but don't actually believe it to be true ;-)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXLgz3wH2n8
Snopes is usually pretty good with separating fact from fiction.
usually.
Well you could do what you always do and just reject anything that doesn't fit your own worldview by calling it "bullshit."
But in seriousness, use multiple sources. Look at all sides of the issue, and see where their facts differ. Then consider what their agendas or biases might be. After a while it becomes a sort of 6th sense, you can tell when a host is pushing an agenda.
You don't, you just read them all and laugh as you watch the world burn.
You use logic and deduction.
Believe nothing without proof, especially anyone who is insisting they are right and everyone else is wrong.
Or anyone who reacts poorly or evasively to questioning of their story.
Cross-reference, research, ask questions. Find multiple different sources that corroborate a story.
Consider motives - why would X do Y? How does it benefit X? or anyone else? A lot of conspiracy theories have absolutely no regard for motives or logic, and break down as soon as you ask why Soros would bus 2 million mexicans over the border and how the fuck it 'happened' without anyone seeing thousands of busses.