What new knowledge did you gain whilst writing the book?
Much of the information that’s out there for people is simply incomprehensible to most.
I sometimes think of myself as a geek-to-English translation service.
It could be counting on you to trust that its legitimate, and press it to take further action.
Theyve detected that your system is causing many errors on the internet.
Is the story theyre telling accurate?
Just What Is Common Sense?
I think many of the rules will sound familiar to you.
Dont waste your time.
The list goes on.Now, I get that each of those assumes a certain amount of knowledge.
How do you know you dont have a specific problem?
How do you know that malware isnt present?
That really is only good, common sense.
Honestly, I do.
Its simply too easy, particularly in todays exceptionally connected and information-rich world, to spread misinformation as fact.
We see it all the time.Misleading ads are only one blatant example.
The reality is that misleading ads pre-date the internet by decades, if not hundreds, of years.
Common sense tells us that just because something is on the internet has absolutely no bearing on its accuracy.
Consider the source, and what that sources agenda might be in spreading its message.
Are they being truthful?Over time, develop a set of resources that you trust.
Naturally, I hope Ask Leo!
Do your research!
If youre uncertain how to go about researching a particular topic, theres nothing wrong in asking for help.
You may have more experienced friends or family members who can help you find what youre looking for.
Regardless of whos helping you, its still okay to be skeptical.
There are two types of confirmation:
The first isnt confirmation at all; its repetition.
Remember that repetition isn’t confirmation.
For just about any topic there are resource sites.
Develop a set of sites that you trust.
For example, when it comes to technology, I would hope you trust Ask Leo!
Visit the sites you already trust to see what they say about the issue at hand.
At worst, it may save you some embarrassment.
At best, it could protect your box, your identity, and even your possessions.
The internet went crazy.
Many sources seemed to say, “How outrageous!
We told you so!
Google is evil!”
They have something they want you to do, think, or become.
In other words, the information you present is almost always colored by your agenda.
People highlight facts that support a particular agenda, conveniently minimizing or completely ignoring facts that don’t.
In the worst case, people fabricate “facts” to support their agenda.
Yes: not everyone, but some people, actually lie.
Perhaps more often than you think.To be honest, we all do it.
If it’s on the internet, it must be…
However, I would wager that most people do believe most of what they read on the internet.
We believe what matches our own world view and our own agenda, whether or not we are right.
The echo chamberis a term we’ve been hearing more and more in recent years.
It’s the tendency of information sourcesmost notably news mediato repeat each other.
In a sense, they use each other as sources.
Fifty shades of gray
Things get more complicated still.We desperately want things to be simple.
The individuals crafting headlines and promoting narratives are well aware that many of us find critical thinking challenging.
They understand that binary thinking is simpler and, moreover, dramatically more sensational.
Email privacy, and privacy on the internet in general, is a critically important concept.
Are there teams of people sitting behind computer monitors reading your email?
Almost certainly not.However, unless you encrypt your email, it is by definition fundamentally not secure.
So what’s the solution?You.
You are the solution.
And when you pass those manipulative stories on to friends, family, and acquaintances?
Overly sensational or outrageous-sounding headlines or content are a hallmark of bogus stories.Do a little research.
Check and verify the sourcesfollow the trail.
Call it “manure fatigue”.
just, comment on how to improve this article.
