How best to combat fake news?

[Worffan101]

Taking this to its own thread...

So, I've expressed my exasperation and rage at the proliferation of fake news, "alternative facts", and subtly racist propaganda on the Internet and elsewhere. I've expressed my exasperation at the apparent ineffectiveness of calm, rational debate in combating these trends, and at how the only way to get a single damn person to believe a thing I say is to scream and curse like a semi-sentient baboon who's been denied candy.

That being said--does anybody have any thoughts on how to fight the proliferation of conspiracy theories, Islamophobia, victim-blaming, and other bigoted nonsense?

[LittleRaven]

Sure. Expensive, but effective.

Of course, it will still deliver nonsense on demand, but only approved nonsense.

[Worffan101]

Sure. Expensive, but effective.

Of course, it will still deliver nonsense on demand, but only approved nonsense.

That's tyrannical and nothing but a speed bump to those who want to get around it. A massive waste of time and money, not to mention counterproductive to boot.

I mean some way to, I don't know, get people to believe the truth instead of "alternative facts" more?

[PerrySimm]

Go outside. Ask questions.

[Yukaphile]

Simple. Take down the corporate media. That's step number one. They push the agenda they want, and think because they present the information, it means they control how the information is perceived. It's yellow journalism and I'm sick and tired of it.

[Worffan101]

Go outside. Ask questions.

The problem is that nobody does that anymore. They go to the computer first.

And even then, those who go outside to ask questions usually ask their neighbors and social circle first rather than experts or people with a different perspective.

[LittleRaven]

I mean some way to, I don't know, get people to believe the truth instead of "alternative facts" more?

Every religion I know of has been working on this problem for as long as they've been around...which is quite a long time, for some of them. Results are decidedly mixed.

Basically, humans are fantastically complicated creatures with a inborn compulsion to create narratives to fit their individual experiences, but with hopelessly narrow perspectives. We only ever get to see the tiniest, most infinitesimal portion of the puzzle and we're forced to see it all from our own perspective, making us all the most important person in our own narrative. That form of existence is deeply at odds with any kind of universal truth.

I'm a liberal, so at the end of the day I retreat to the marketplace of ideas, with all of the perils that entails. It's not perfect, but overall it's the best system I've seen.

[Yukaphile]

Again, what I said in another thread. We're still fighting the same fucking battles we were 10,000 years ago, the same war over ideas that's plagued us since the beginning.

[jadenova]

Outlaw the freedom of the press.

[Fuzzy Necromancer]

What the fuck dude?