True or False?
Interesting Article on some research that says, True News spreads to only 1000 people, False News spreads to 100,000! Why is that? False rumor spreaders apparently design their messages to play on people's emotions in such a way that we are inclined to share it. Goleman quotes a source that gives some questions to ask about what we are reading to evaluate if a message is true before spreading it. Jesus has a similar question for His people about those spreading false news...
"False VS. True News
False news, research from MIT tells us, spreads online much faster and further than the truth. That conclusion comes from a study of over 126,000 rumors. About 3 million people helped spread those rumors far and wide.
Each of us faces the challenge of telling what’s false news from what’s true.
To help us along, I like the ways the News Literacy Project advises us to question what we read on the Web:
Ask yourself who created this, and what’s their motive? Is this just to sell you a product, for instance?
It’s a red flag if there are no sources named at all. Are there any?
Are those sources (if any) trustworthy, independent, credible?
If a news article, does it offer different points of view, or is it only trying to convince you of one?
In short, should you trust this? If you have doubts, search for other sources that might confirm or disconfirm.
That research at MIT (a source I {Goleman}find credible) discovered that the most popular one percent of false rumors reached up to 100,000 people. The truth, sadly, reached at best around one thousand.
It seems the emotional impact of a false rumor speeds its spread – emotions hit the brain’s wiring in a way that spurs action. Those who craft false news – whether selling a product or an agenda – seem skilled at manipulating our emotions."
[adapted from Daniel Goleman’s introduction to Viktor Frankl, Yes to Life In Spite of Everything (Beacon Press, 2020)]"
This would explain why it is so easy for us to fall into this trap on social media... someone is high-jacking our brain wiring, playing to our fears and leanings. Jesus warned about those spreading untruth and manipulating our emotions to get a particular beneficial outcome for those spreading the information. Jesus asks a question similar to those above to get at the motives of the false news disseminators Jesus says, "Be on your guard against false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravaging wolves. You'll recognize them by their fruit. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes or figs from thistles? In the same way, every good tree produces good fruit, but a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can't produce bad fruit; neither can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that doesn't produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So you'll recognize them by their fruit. Matthew 7:15-20 (CSBBible)