Bill Kenny of Norwich: why we need to gather facts before casting a vote
With apologies to whoever’s online post I stole this from, there are 10 kinds of people in the world. Those who understand the binary system and those who don't. And people wonder why Math Stand-up Comedy has been so slow to catch on.
I referenced that online theft to make a terrible joke because I spend a lot of time there, online; and by a lot, I mean all capital letters LOT. I find it’s often easier (and certainly easier on those family and neighbors with whom I do interact) than real life.
I’m old enough to remember life before we could Google things (I can remember thinking “‘Google’ is a pretty stupid name for something,” and now it’s a verb I use all the time) and I’m more than willing to listen to you argue that the convergence of interconnective technologies and the pervasiveness of the world wide web are both the greatest and simultaneously most horrible things to have happened in my lifetime, mostly because they are.
Those were exciting early days weren’t they, signing on with some of those ‘free hours’ that came on a floppy disc (do they still make those things anymore?) and praying that no one tried to call your house while you were going online? I think at one time the modem noise was part of the soundtrack to all our lives and look at us now: we trade grumpy cat pictures and post every imaginable kind of information (mis and/or otherwise) with the click of a mouse and without a second thought. Strange days indeed.
I interact with people online all day long about whom I know nothing (nor do they about me) and can get drawn into conversations and even protracted arguments (typing in ALL CAPs is arguing online-how amazing is that?) and never know if the other person is next door or on another continent (assuming they exist at all. If ‘Google’ was a stupid word, what should we make of ‘bot?’).
There’s so much chaff among the wheat, metaphorically speaking and in terms of abstracts like ‘truth,’ or ‘facts,’ it’s every person for themselves. In the time before the internet, Samuel Clemens, Mark Twain to most of us, is supposed to have offered, “A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.” At least that’s what’s posted online all over the place, so how ironic is it that in all probability someone other than Twain said it? And what does that tell us about research and scholarship here in the Information Age?
Our new normal started online where everything can be surreal, unreal, and real all at the time (like Schrodinger's Cat but as a meme) but is now also everywhere in real life to be confronted (and often confounded at least I am) by those whose attitude suggests "my ignorance is as good as your knowledge." (And maybe even better.).
I was raised to "check your sources," and I still do and encourage everyone to do the same, but too many live in a world where whoever shouts the loudest is considered right, even if they’re wrong.
You’ve been patient but now you’re restive: get to the point! OK. In the weeks ahead, locally with our city budget and months as November nears, gather as much information as you can before making decisions. In real life, bells cannot be unrung.
Bill Kenny, of Norwich, writes a weekly column about Norwich issues. His blog, Tilting at Windmills, can be accessed at https://tiltingatwindmills-dweeb.blogspot.com/.
This article originally appeared on Gardner News: Bill Kenny of Norwich: life online may be easier, but it's distorted
