Disinformation

[notb665]

I have been inspired to write this by a recent long-running thread. No prizes for guessing which one.

Disinformation is the deliberate spreading of slightly incorrect information that sounds rational and credible but in fact undermines important, often highly emotive issues. It manipulates populaces so that true facts become questioned, and no-one knows anything for certain anymore.

We can't have the general populace becoming knowledgable can we? That would threaten those reptilian humanoids in power. NURSE!

T'internet is empowering. Politicians are losing grip and no-one votes anymore. Religion is becoming less relevant, but to those it is relevant to, more extreme. People are starting to realise that at the very least you can't believe ANYONE anymore.

 

[Nige F]

Well I don`t believe you ,Mr. sixhundredthreescoreandfive It`s your neighbour who is real he must be on the opposite side of the road. Or are you in a tower block

 

[AdamW]

In the scientific community, one does not make reference to a source unless there is some level of peer review before publication, and some degree of reputability in that source and traceability back to the originator.

So, I might quote a paper published in "Nature", or a PhD thesis taken from a library, giving proper reference to these quotes.

However, you will NEVER find a reputable scientist quoting from the internet (with the obvious exception of online libraries of the reputable sources), unless the paper was in itself regarding some dimension of the internet.

So, treat the internet with caution and do not use it as a primary source of evidence to back you up on anything where you regard the outcome as important (you will note that I have used the internet on a number of threads, but debating on an internet forum does not affect my career, my salary or my private life)

 

[notb665]

Yes (I am a highly qualified scientist myself *ahem*).

Even when I was doing science, we would often take papers and do what they did to prove or disprove it, if something seemed odd.

Even so, science is still open to abuse. Scientists are sometimes bribed by big corporations and governments.

I was once told to "Just make it pass"!!

 

[AdamW]

Just make it pass

That sounds more like engineering

 

[kendor]

One would hope no-one takes what's said on here to heart it's just a place to have a good chart, let off some steam, and generally have fun, although there are those on here that seem to believe all they read.

 

[empip]

Depends upon the source... Hansard for example.

 

[dabaldie]

never heard of the 'fiddle factor?'
Required answer= actual answer *ff
where ff is any arbitary figure