and why do they think a “link” proves fact? Why are people so gullible today? I’ve caught the media lying and trying to sway people countless times.
Cite needed for ‘most people believe everything’ – Most polls have ‘strongly trust media’ at 20% or below.
Depends on which media they’re following. Think about it.
I don’t know that most people believe everything from the media. There.
I don’t think “they” (i.e., most people) do. It’s more of a cliché, perpetuated (I would think) by people who disagree with something that’s in the media and now rant about their allegedly dumb compatriots who they say believe the rubbish. I don’t have data to back it up, but in my experience most people show a healthy degree of skepticism about what they hear in the news, and that applies to all educational backgrounds.
“The media” isn’t a thing. It’s just people who say stuff.
So you’re asking why people sometimes believe people who say things.
And the answer is: for various reasons. And those reasons are different for each particular person for each particular thing they believe for each particular person who said it.
What kind of question is this?
Frankly, there’s a strong correlation between people who say they don’t trust the media and people who believe whatever garbage CT their heart desires.
And many show the same “healthy” skepticism of science.
Or, from another angle; it depends what we mean by “belief”. When news outlets that have been generally accurate in the past all agree on a particular point of fact, then I tend to take it at face value. Not as gospel, but as something likely to be true.
Confirmation bias. People are naturally drawn to and believe information that reinforces an already held belief. So if you believe that vaccines cause autism and you see a link that says vaccines cause autism then you’re inclined to believe it.
In the case where we have no strong pre-existing belief as social animals we’re inclined to believe those in our social group. So, if we have no existing belief on vaccines and autism and somebody, say your aunt, shares a link saying vaccines cause autism we are predisposed to believe it. So this tends to become our base truth.
I see it all the time. People quoting a “link” and the defending it as fact when they have no idea if it’s true or not.
why do you believe your link?
I don’t think quimper should have to reply to your question unless and until you reply to the questions you’ve been asked in this thread. Especially quimper’s.
Well heck, as already stated, I see people all over the internet taking a “news” story, quoting it, and then because it’s something they want to believe, defend like the gospel.
Is that a close enough answer for you?
And what would be a good resource where you can fact-check the media?
You’re talking about Fox News, right? I agree, you really have to fact-check what they say. Most of their followers sort of vegetate and just believe what they are fed and have little talent at fact-checking, so they sort of believe whatever the nice people in fancy suits tell them to believe.
Since no single factual answer is possible, I’ll move this to IMHO from General Questions.
samclem, moderator.
Saying something is “a link” does not describe it and is meaningless. A “link” to what? If it’s a link to a trusted source, then I consider it credible, all the more so when it’s corroborated by other trusted sources. A “trusted source” is an objectively definable entity, defined as one that has been truthful and accurate in the past over a long period of time.
The question I would ask you is what do YOU base your beliefs on? When you say offhand unsupported things like “most people believe everything from the media” or “I see it all the time”, it seems to suggest that the basis of your complaint is having a belief system that is at odds with the news reporting on mainstream media. If so, then the pertinent question is whether this is a problem with the media or with your belief system.
For example…?
Shake up, weeple!
The best thing to do is get your information from a variety of sources and see if they’re all generally saying the same thing. Unless you want to believe in conspiracies, the reason they’re all in agreement is because they’re all independently reporting the same truth. I realize that can be uncomfortable if you like what Rasmussen is telling you and don’t like what all the other polls are saying. But living in an uncomfortable reality is better than living in a comfortable fantasy.
I’ve caught posters on this very board lying and trying to sway people countless times. Why, then, should we believe anything you have to say regarding “the media”, whatever that is?
I don’t care if you believe me or not. I just assumed in my short time here there were some smart people here. Perhaps I was mistaken?