> How many of us now google `<topic> reddit` instead of just `<topic>`?
One of us lives in a bubble. I don't trust Reddit for anything, or YouTube or any social media. IME, it's mis/disinformation - not only a lack of information, but a negative; it leaves me believing something false. My experience is, and plenty of research shows, that we have no way to sort truth from fiction without prior expertise in the domain. The misinformation and disinformation on social media, and its persuasiveness, is very well known. The results are evident before us, in the madness and disasters, in dead people, in threats to freedom, prosperity, and stability.
Why would people in this community, who are aware of these issues, trust social media? How is that working out?
> This of course means the fracturing of truth away from elites. Sometimes this could be a good thing
I think that's mis/disinformation. 'Elite' is a loaded, negative (in this context) word. It makes the question about power and the conclusion inevitable.
Making it about power distracts from the core issue of knowledge, which is truth. I want to hear from the one person, or one of the few people, with real knowledge about a topic; I don't want to hear from others.
In matters of science the authority of thousands is not worth the humble reasoning of one single person.
They already acknowledge the problem of trusting the crowd, but you seem to not acknowledge the problem of trusting a central dispensary. In fact it's unwise to trust either one. Everything has to be evaluated case by case. The same source should be trusted for one thing today, and not for some other thing tomorrow.
One of us lives in a bubble. I don't trust Reddit for anything, or YouTube or any social media. IME, it's mis/disinformation - not only a lack of information, but a negative; it leaves me believing something false. My experience is, and plenty of research shows, that we have no way to sort truth from fiction without prior expertise in the domain. The misinformation and disinformation on social media, and its persuasiveness, is very well known. The results are evident before us, in the madness and disasters, in dead people, in threats to freedom, prosperity, and stability.
Why would people in this community, who are aware of these issues, trust social media? How is that working out?
> This of course means the fracturing of truth away from elites. Sometimes this could be a good thing
I think that's mis/disinformation. 'Elite' is a loaded, negative (in this context) word. It makes the question about power and the conclusion inevitable.
Making it about power distracts from the core issue of knowledge, which is truth. I want to hear from the one person, or one of the few people, with real knowledge about a topic; I don't want to hear from others.
In matters of science the authority of thousands is not worth the humble reasoning of one single person.