I’ve been reading up on CNN and the BBC News and I educated myself on the nature of the illness, plus when new news breaks I’ll occasionally check the WHO web site (No not Dr. Who) and the CDC. Because I’m informed I know that at this time there isn’t much to worry about so getting stressed over a nasty case of the flu won’t accomplish anything. (Seeing how I live a 15 minuet drive from the boarder to Mexico it’s nice to know what’s going on.)
Three cheers for the internet and the information revolution!
But wait. . .this article from neteffect says that the interwebs are spreading bad information about the swine flu?!?! http://neteffect.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2009/04/25/swine_flu_twitters_power_to_misinform Damn your black twisted heart internet, how could you do something like this to us? This wasn’t part of the deal!
In the past, (not even 10 years ago) we primarily looked to the major television networks, the radio and newspapers for researched, balanced and accurate reporting in regards to world and local events. These sources had to be reliably accurate because if they weren’t then they’d lose the trust of their customers and then they wouldn’t make any money. (And we all love money right?)
In the world we live in today any random knucklehead can say anything they want and thousands upon thousands of people all over the world will get that message in a matter of seconds. There doesn’t need to be any fact checking nor does the people need to have a credible background. People have an opinion and they post it as news on their website, blog, message board, twitter ect. Maybe they think the information they’re providing is correct, maybe they mean well or maybe they’re just spreading misinformation on purpose because they’re assholes. Who knows.
The point is that when you’re getting information from some random person there’s no way you can be sure if it’s accurate or not. Do a little Google search right now; there are people who think that the flu is come kind of biological weapon and that thousands of people are dying in the streets. If I’m on twitter and I start posting that I live near the epicenter of the outbreak and there are white vans going house to house in my neighborhood taking people away how do you know whether or not I’m telling the truth? Ya don’t! It could be true and it prays upon public fear, so it would probably be very easy to spread that rumor right now.
A real actual photo of the Swine Flu in action back during the 1976 outbreak. Here Swine Flu appears to be attacking some scaffolding in a church.
I’m not tying to pick on twitter here, it’s just that the ability to instantly deploy information plus an information hungry public plus the inherent anonymity of the internet equals one big cluster f*^&. For another example let’s look at CNN, not the stories but the comments attached to them. (A brief word on “user’s comments”. If you ever want to push yourself to suicide then go to CNN and read the users comments for a while. It’s one of the saddest places on the interwebs.) Now let’s see what people are saying about the Swine Flu!
Here’s a nice little Swine Flu FAQ with CNN’s Dr. Gupta. http://pagingdrgupta.blogs.cnn.com/2009/04/27/cnn-answers-your-faqs-on-swine-flu/ Wow, educated, rational down to earth information! However, take a look at the comments bellow. Some of my favorites -
| donna |
| April 27th, 2009 5:50 pm ET
"The flu in 1918 was responible for the deaths of between 20 to 70 million people worldwide. That is the estimate I saw. If this flu is the same strain except it has become a variant of that virus how can this not be a crisis for the world? There is good reason to be concerned if they don’t get a handle on this quickly." |
Panic much?
| Hilton Mauldin |
| April 27th, 2009 8:27 pm ET
"EUCALYPTUS OIL. Why has clinical Medicine overlooked this item. Dr. David G. Williams reported on this item in 1999. He related a personal experiience that he had on a trip to Australia. He became infected with the Flu and observed some cleaning ladies breathing fthe fumes of Eucalyptus oil on a cloth. They related a story about one s grandfather in WWI were the military sprayed a barracks with the oil and put the solders in the barracks for a day and stopped the epidemic.
|
You’ve found the cure! Hurray!
| Paige |
| April 28th, 2009 10:34 am ET
"I was wondering as far as the swine flu is concerned, would it be tied to the rocket launch that N. Korea sent into the ocean last month? It just seems crazy that the majority of the infected are in the costal states, especially mexico, which is directly across from Korea. I believe that the virus seems to be man-made and could have possibly been sent into the ocean to where it would contaminate the water." |
So the flu comes from the ocean which was contaminated by Kim Jong-Il’s rocket and it ended up near Mexico City. You heard it here first.
| Concerned Citizen |
| April 28th, 2009 3:40 pm ET
"Could this outbreak of swine flu in Mexico City be a failed assasination attempt by the Mexican drug cartel on President Obama’s life - using the virus-infected people as “suicide bombers” to contaminate intended targets? How can the US be sure that this is not a biological attack from a foreign country using its people as soldiers to carry out this “virus” war?" |
Uh, probably not.
| John Staumph |
| April 28th, 2009 12:23 pm ET
"How was this not concocted in a laboratory someplace? You are telling me that swine, bird, and human flu mutates into one, and can harm humans, and it can occur all over the world? Wouldn’t the virus keep mutating by the time it hit Britain, Scotland, etc?" |
Yes, by the time it hits the UK it’ll have probably also mutated with an umbrella, a ladder and a bowl of tapioca. Then we’ll really be in trouble. In that case I guess we’d have to change its name to the Bird-Umbrella-Ladder-Swine-Human-Tapioca virus, or BULSHT for short.
As a society we’re bombarded with an overwhelming amount of information on a daily basis. Twitter, news reports to your cell phone, text messaging, the gazillion news sites and blogs online and the many 24 hours cable news networks. We are becoming/have become addicted to information culturally ever since (in my opinion) 911. We need to know what’s happening where at all times, so when there isn’t enough information coming out in regards to a dangerous situation like swine flue, is it any wonder that people are latching onto whatever they read and excepting that as fact?
Even when presented with what facts are available people are still not satisfied. They need more information and if the information isn’t there or if it’s not the information they want to hear then they’ll make stuff up. This is normal human behavior of course, as a species we’re constantly trying to make sense out of our surroundings and filling in the gaps in our understanding of the natural world around us. But how do we distinguish between the good information and the bad information? If I make a claim that could be true and sounds true how can you tell if I’m being honest or not?
The answer is to remain skeptical at all times. When people make extraordinary claims ask for evidence. For example –
Bad info - Studies have shown that vaccinations cause autism in children!
Skeptic – Oh really? What studies? Where were they conducted at and by whom? How many studies were done and were the results consistent? Have the findings been published in a major medical journal?
Bad info – Uh, errrr, well we don’t really know if they are causing autism or not and we don’t have any real evidence, but what if it’s true?!?! It could be for all you know!
Skeptic – Oh brother. . .
Be on the lookout at all times for potentially incorrect or misleading info and take everything you read or hear with a grain of salt until it can be proven. (Or as proven as much as it can be anyway.) Always do your own research and verify that something is correct and don’t just look for information that supports what you want to believe. There are too many people who want to push their agenda on you for one reason or the other. I think that if people were a little more mindful then a lot of false information and rumors could be avoided.
I don’t mean to sound cynical and say, “Trust no one!” I’m just saying to stay calm and be mindful that there’s a lot of bad information flying around, so don’t go into a panic if you aren’t exactly sure what’s going on at the moment. The Internet hates you so be careful out there!
Pete
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