The Age of Misinformation

Why Facebook and Twitter cost us more than just our privacy, and what you can do about it.

"The most dangerous person to get an email from is your mother," said Howard Schneider, founding dean of Stony Brook University's School of Journalism. But before I can apologize on my mother's behalf, he explains that he's speaking metaphorically: what he really means is "people you trust".

"I get emails all the time from friends and they drive me crazy," he told me in his heavy New York accent. "They'll ask me to sign a petition or do something, and with two clicks I can find out that the information is not reliable, the claims are not valid. And I'll send them back a note saying: what are you doing? why are you sending this around?"

I empathize with Schneider's frustration. You see, I too have a habit of pointing out when my friends are wrong, and if you think they find this quality endearing... well, you're wrong. I've been called an "accomplished hater", a "nit-picky faux intellectual", and a "devil's advocate" by people I know and respect; I've been accused of practicing a "hey-mom-look-at-me" style of journalism. It has been said that criticism is an indirect form of self-boasting, and I often worry that this appears to be my intent. It's refreshing to know that Schneider, co-creator of America's first News Literacy program, actually approves of my behavior, and even sticks his own neck out. It's refreshing to have him remind me that, in the age of Facebook and Twitter, pointing out to people when they're wrong is important - especially if they're a friend.

Schneider, seen here in conversation
with Arianna Huffington

I don't hear this nearly enough. Usually, when I hear the societal value of social networking sites discussed, the focus is on their role in the perennial struggle between people and power structures: on the one hand, we have the media hailing the "Twitter Revolution" in Tunisia and the "Facebook Revolution" in Iran; on the other hand, we have Wikileaks founder, Julian Assange, calling Facebook "the most appalling spy machine that has ever been invented." But Schneider's enthusiasm for the great democratizing power of social networks is tempered by a different concern. Scneider is worried about the harm these sites can inflict, not in the hands of authority, but of ordinary people.

"To the extent they can provide a tsunami of misinformation, rumors, half-truths, and assertions," he frets, "their potential to do damage is great, and we see that every day."

Nuclear power

Energy in North America (and the world) is overwhelmingly derived from fossil fuels. But the combustion of oil, coal, and natural gas is exacting a terrible toll: heating the planet and melting the polar ice caps; acidifying the oceans; and releasing particulate air pollution that, by one estimate, kills 50,000 -100,000 people every year in America alone. Clearly, we need alternatives.

One alternative is nuclear fission. In fact, already this low-carbon method of energy generation accounts for about 14% of the world's electricity; 15% in Canada, 20% in the US, and in certain countries the percentage is much higher.

But large swaths of the voting public are dead-set against nuclear power generation, and believe that not only should no new reactors be built, but that existing ones should be brought offline as soon as possible. Many people, it seems, are willing to accept nothing less than a nuclear-free, low-carbon near future; and presumably they believe this to be a realistic goal.

Here's why I am not one of these people.

Local food

For the purposes of this post I have imported a news story I recently wrote as an assignment for a journalism class, and chased it with a piece of fresh, homegrown editorializing.

Circumcision

Infant circumcision (removal of the foreskin) is highly controversial, and yet in North America it is perhaps the single most common surgical procedure. Proponents claim that it promotes good health and hygiene, and some see it as a perfectly harmless religious obligation. Detractors claim that the foreskin performs various functions, and that no medical, theological, or aesthetic justifications warrant its painful and permanent removal from helpless babies.

Following, I have critiqued the major pro-circumcision arguments as dispassionately as I can, in an attempt to determine who the facts vindicate: those who are in favor of circumcision as a routine procedure, or those who are stiffly opposed.

The sun part 2: sunscreen

As a tree planter, many of my spring and summer days are spent outside, at high altitudes, and in places most notable for their lack of available shade

And yet I never use sunscreen. In part, this is because I don't have to worry about sunburns as much as do the fair-haired, and because I have a mild aversion to skin creams and lotions. But it's also because I've never understood how sunscreens work; and because I've long heard rumors of dire side effects: for example, my ex-physiotherapist once told me that sunscreen causes skin cancer.

However, I certainly appreciate the power of ultraviolet (UV) sunlight, which can sunburn, bleach pigments, and sterilize drinking water. So I can't help but wonder: are my coworkers and I really better off without sunscreen?

The sun part 1: the color of plants

For the sake of argument, light is made up of particles called photons; and although the sun emits photons of every conceivable color, if you could collect and sort them like so many M&Ms you would find a preponderance of "green" ones. In other words: the sun shines green more intensely than it does any other color.

(That the sun does not appear green may seem to belie my claim, but this is simply because we humans perceive sunlight as a blend of colors. In fact, sunlight is white - not yellow as artistic renditions had me believing. But it has been pointed out that if the sun really were yellow, then so too would be the clouds.)

It is unsurprising then, that the human eye is most sensitive to green light. After all, it has evolved specifically to take advantage of a green sun.

But it is much more surprising  that plants are usually green. I mean, seriously: why are plants green? Some readers might be quick to answer that it's because they contain chlorophyll - a green pigment essential to photosynthesis and thus the survival of most plants. But this is no answer at all, for it merely begs the next logical question: why is chlorophyll green?

Acupuncture

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Here in British Columbia, our provincial medical services plan subsidizes acupuncture treatments with public funds, and acupuncture is a designated health profession. My student medical plan offers me subsidized acupuncture treatments, and there's a temporary acupuncture clinic on my university campus. According to Google maps, there are fifteen acupuncture clinics operating within five blocks of my apartment here in downtown Victoria, including at least two acupuncture colleges whose students qualify for government loans. Very many of my peers have expressed great faith in acupuncture, and a few are aspiring acupuncturists.

In other words, my community has granted acupuncture mainstream acceptance.

This fact has piqued my interest as taxpayer, a community member, as a student of biology, and as a nerdy science blogger. So recently, I went around to seven different acupuncture schools and clinics in my neighborhood, collecting brochures, and pressing the staff on a couple key points; and following, I have attempted a fair but meaningful criticism of the answers these questions received.

Love

"Reason and passion are inexorably linked."
-Helen Fisher

Love can be a source of great confusion. The very meaning of the word is debatable, let alone the role it plays in our lives.

If you too crave clarity, read on. All will be made clear, I promise.

Milk 2

Some say that "homogenized" milk cannot be properly digested by the human body and should be avoided.

Others wonder about the hormones and other drugs that are sometimes administered to dairy cattle, and the effects this might have on the milk they produce.

Still others have requested that I "hire an editor".

In fact, all three of these concerns where floated by comments I received after my last post (wherein I criticized the distinct notions that cow's milk is an "unnatural" human beverage, and that pasteurization sucks). Since these particular remarks were not made visible on this blog, I have taken the liberty of partially reproducing and individually addressing them below, while secreting the identities of their respective authors.

Milk

Some say that cow's milk "does a body good", but others believe it's unnatural and unhealthy.

Some say milk is a natural "super food", lamentably ruined by commercial processing; but others have compared the act of drinking "raw" milk to "playing Russian roulette with your health".

Recently, I have been investigating these sharply conflicting views; and following, I have carefully arranged the unseemly products of my ruminations.