i really dislike the word "misinformation" / "disinformation." it's presumptuous to assert that you know what constitutes "information" and what constitutes "not information" and underhanded to make it an implicit part of the frame so it's harder to notice and object to
Conversation
it's awkward that english doesn't appear to have a word for the opposite of a lie
which is *not* a truth. it's a statement which may be true or false but which is being reported honestly in good faith
do we seriously not have a word for this? come on
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"social media should simply institute policies making it harder to spread misinformation" pretty much exactly translates to "social media should simply institute policies making it harder to spread opinions i disagree with" which is just very bad
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people who are spreading plague conspiracy theories or w/e in good faith are *trying to do it right*: they have actual opinions about important things and they are trying to improve other people's lives by telling them about it
this is normal prosocial human behavior
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the bigger problem, as i see it, is that we no longer have the luxury of being able to pretend that we agree collectively on an answer to the question "whose job is it to make sense of the world"
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whose job did it used to be? idk but if i had to bullshit about it, first the church and then TV? at some point the cover story was "scientists"
but now it's nobody's job and everybody's job. lots of people are applying for the position and it's an uncomfortable power scramble
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anyway everyone knows the real answer: it's scott alexander's job. glad he's back
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so what would you call like, a rumour that drinking ethanol cures COVID?
(which really happened by the way and that single rumour killed 700-800 people)
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Replying to
oof. rumor is a pretty good word already. dangerous rumor?
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yea the danger vibe feels v important
like it’s one thing to say “I’m not sure” or “I disagree” wrt like Flat Earthers or ppl who think the Mandela Effect proves they jumped timelines through the multiverse
but this kinda stuff needs to capture the “this will kill you” vibe imo
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That Kim K left Kanye because he had sex with Jeffree Star was a rumour
That you should literally drink poison so you don’t get the plague feels like it needs a separate category
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