jd's Journal: The Internet is Wrong

https://physicsworld.com/a/web-of-confusion/

A school teacher has written an excellent piece on how sites give misleading to blatantly incorrect information, even on very basic science.

The idea that people who are given bogus information on the majority of sites can do their own research on the Internet is increasingly dubious, but there's no easy solution as long as the interwebs are regarded as reliable, or better, than subject matter experts.

Might makes right and eyeballs make wrong

[shanen]

Interesting piece, though you didn't reveal much about your position. This is just a thought on the topic of how the Web is changing things for the worse.

The Subject is deliberately worded as a joke, but it's based on the sad reality of where we are. There used to be a time when most people understood why "might makes right" was a bad philosophy. Short version is that violence is essentially random and the most recent "winner" can use that violence to "justify" any principle or rationale.

But on today's Inte

Re:

[jd]

My own views are much like yours. It's one reason I've never taken to blogging. The Rat Race, as spaketh of by The Specials, has changed only in what is being abused. It's essentially the same crowd, same views, just a different medium.

Re:

[smittyoneeach]

I blogged a lot back in the Tea Party era a decade ago.

It was a good seminar for those who played, though the long-term positive effects are less clear.

Congress, for example, still hasn't budgeted properly since the Bush43 Administration.

Business Opportunity

[smittyoneeach]

Those who care (a possible minority) may be drawn to more curated, walled-garden sites, where there is less anonymity and there is a concern about information quality.

What's at increasingly at risk are the public, free sites.

Tragedy of the Commons, and all that.