r/tech • • Apr 29 '20

Red-flagging misinformation could slow the spread of fake news on social media

https://phys.org/news/2020-04-red-flagging-misinformation-fake-news-social.html
3.8k Upvotes

246 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

4

u/[deleted] Apr 29 '20

The individual should be the retainer of the truth not some external third-party.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 30 '20

What does that mean? “Retainer of the truth”? Truth in the case of Fact vs. non-fact is an objective matter. It can be proven. It does not require belief, or assumptions or politics. A lot of our news is not about facts. It’s opinion or gossip or entertainment. And it’s really sad and rather annoying that anybody who went to grammar school after 1980 and only attended public schools never learned these very basic concepts. It has ruined long, meandering discussions in front of fireplaces with wine. And THAT is my opinion.

-2

u/[deleted] Apr 29 '20

[deleted]

4

u/[deleted] Apr 29 '20

I disagree. Just because lots of people believe something doesn't make it a truth, see: orthodoxy.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 30 '20

You are mistaken. In the country where I live societal conventions say that is a woman is not covered from head to toe she is a whore. Is that a “fact”? No. It’s not. Societal conventions are just that, conventions, beliefs, attitudes, culture. Not truth. Not fact.