IT or MIT? World of Misinformation Technology
Sanjay Goel
Soft Skills, Behavioural and Leadership trainer, Outbound/ Experiential trainer, DiSC trainer and assessor, Coach, Counsellor - NLP and Hypnosis Practitioner, L&D specialist, Learning Consultancy, Sales Consultancy
Dr. Stephen R Covey, in his famous book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, wrote, we live in the world of perception. We all see things differently through our lenses, our filters. What we see from our point of reference is unique to us. He wrote this book more than thirty years before yet those principles he wrote have become more relevant than ever.
During my NLP/Hypnosis courses, I talk about how our senses have limited abilities. Even with these limited abilities, we cannot process all the information that we receive from our senses, so we will delete most of it and process only that is perceived relevant to us. In a situation where there are hundreds of people, even when everyone is seeing same information, they all will see it differently.
The biggest irony is, we all see the same thing differently and yet believe only we are right and others are wrong. These perceptions create difference of opinion, we believe we are right, a fertile ground for conflicts.
As the technology evolved, we started believing that we will be living in a world where information would be easily available. We were moving into a new world where information would flow freely. People will come closer and will see more common than before. We were born much before the computers and mobiles were invented and yet we can’t imagine a day now without it.
But after so many years, we have observed that, more than information, it is the misinformation that flows rapidly through the sources. I have experienced many different parallel worlds in our country, India. News channels, print media, independent media on youtube, social media, WhatsApp messages all are running different versions of the same story or entirely different stories at the same time. You will believe and form opinions depending on what you consume regularly.
Humans have a very unique ability; humans can learn easily from others compared to any living species on this earth. Humans have another unique ability. We can take others’ perception as ours easily. Research says that if any information is presented to a man thrice, with so called facts, he would accept that information as his own. It will then become his own reality.
For example, if an information is presented to a man from a (perceived) credible source, that rubbing the tips of finger nails with each other can grow hair on his head, man will accept it and take it as a reality. Later, it will become his own reality and he will start propagating without validating. The way he will advocate and even fight when argued as if, his hair has grown because of rubbing the finger nails.
Today, there is so much of information available that it is difficult to segregate what is fact and what is not.
Everyone has become an expert on social media. People who don’t know much about cricket have an opinion about who should play and who should not. Everyone has become doctors, fitness experts, motivational speakers and advisors. People use to give advice face to face in the world without internet. Now, they give through sixty second reels or fifteen minutes video. In the hunger of more likes, subscribes, money and fame, everyone is ready to do everything.
Because it is easy to watch sixty seconds reel, or watching fifteen minutes video, everyone is having opinion about everything. It is difficult to read, research and validate what you just received was true or not.
Today I saw a post on social media, a picture in which a lady is sleeping on her desk, with a caption ‘As soon as she wakes up, she will opposite privatization by Modi’. It has a hidden meaning. Everyone who is opposing privatization is lazy and doesn’t want to work. Another hidden subconscious meaning, everyone who is opposing Modi is lazy and doesn’t want to work.
Where these opinions come from? These come from sources which are easily available. However, the sources which are easily available may not necessarily give right information all the time. There were chips in two thousand note during demonetization. I actually saw a video in which a person removes a chip from the note.
If you search for benefits of eating eggs every day, you will get a list of benefits. If you search for harmful effects of eating eggs every day, you will get a list of harmful effects (Try it). You will get what you are looking for. Social media algorithm is such that it will show what you like (based on your browsing history). Because you see what you like, your beliefs get reinforced. This will keep you hooked on the screen. ?But you don’t see the other side.
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I was shocked when someone told me that Pandit Nehru was a Muslim. When I wrote about Mahatma Gandhi, one reader commented with venom and hate, Gandhi’s poverty costs country heavily. This was said by Sarojini Naidu. When I searched about her comment on internet, I was shocked to know the real reason for her light hearted joke. It just takes less than five minutes to fact check. But who has time to do that?
Do people who have opinions about our leaders in the past really know about them? What does Gandhi stand for? Today when we are standing on the brink of third world war, Gandhi’s principle of non-violence and compassion for every human being can only save the world. Reading a book on Gandhi is very difficult for a common man but a small post which points out how Gandhi was responsible for partition is easily circulated and consumed.?
When politics enters any field, it will destroy it. It’s like a group of giant elephants fighting destroying the fields under their feet. With increase of impact of social media and screen time, politics would eventually enter social media and thus destroying its purpose. The sources from which the content is consumed easily is influenced rigorously.
These sources are now used to create an opinion. The rich and the powerful use it as a tool to create a mass opinion. People believe what they read in forwards and posts, accept it as a reality. They forward it and spread it.
There is no harm in knowing and having opinions. In fact, it shows that people know more. But there is a danger. They may end up knowing more wrong than right. It is better not to know than knowing something wrong.
I see people forwarding posts believing that they are only forwards but they don’t own it because they have not made it. They are wrong. If they forward it, means they agree to it. It reflects on their thinking, behaviour and personality.
Social media is a huge source of information that can benefit immensely when used wisely. I follow a simple rule. Don’t forward anything that does not make sense even for the sake of entertainment or past time.
It is important that we don’t accept or consume anything without using our intellect. Validate what we have learnt from other authentic and reliable sources before accepting it as a fact and passing the information.
If someone has a difference of opinion, hear him out. Validate before discarding it. Don’t assume you will be always right and others would be wrong. Take an informed decision. However, it is always going to be ‘best of my knowledge’ in the MIT world.
Stay educated, stay safe.
Thank you.