In this article the author brings forward the problems our culture has conveying reliable information to the public. Saying there really isnt any source of trusted information in the world today. He gives several examples of trusted reporters back in the day. Maybe these reporters were better at tricking the public with less drastic measures. Who knows? He goes on and talks about the many causes of inaccurate information. The first one he talks about is the bandwagon effect. This is a pretty self explanatory concept. People tend to relate to the overwhelming majority. An example of this would be when a teacher asks her students to raise their hand for A or B. You believe its B but sense everyone else is raising their hand for A you go along with the crowd. Another example of this is when a sports team is doing exceptionally well. People tend to support the teams that are doing the best (unlike the cowboys). Im not going to lie, I recently became a Miami Heat fan. For people that don't know the Miami heat recently acquired 3 of the best NBA players in the league. Im a fan. The second one he talks about is the confirmation bias. This is where a person only looks for information that supports their own opinions. This tends to happen a lot in jury cases. People try to find professionals in the field that support their beliefs. The third one he talks about is the base rate fallacy. This is basically where we favor our own experiences rather than empirical evidence. The last is the cognitive dissonance. We discredit evidence that is not inline with our ideologies. I feel like a lot of old people have this problem.
I think the Department of Information is a great idea. It would be extremely hard to put into action because of the 1st Amendment, but I think it would work. The constitution is made to change. The only problem I see is the money factor. I feel like money, like it always does will have a significant pull in what gets published and what doesn't. Just a thought though.
I agree that money will be a big issue in the Department of Information issue because as always money plays a huge part in everything. I also liked the examples you used especially the one about the sports & bandwagon effect. I feel like a LOT of people do this when a team is doing good like you said.
ReplyDeleteI believe you as well as Kate. In my article, I also used the bandwagon effect as it relates to sports. My roommate is from Cleveland and unfortunately, he will never change teams. He is also taking the whole Lebron thing pretty hard. I agree on the Department of Justice issue as well, but money just won't pay since it is not a top priority in the world.
ReplyDeleteGo Steelers! Just as a note, I'm not a bandwagon fan. I lived there for 4 years in grad school and it is impossible to live in Western PA and not be a Steelers fan...seriously, people will harass you and it's just not worth it.
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