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The age of information is the age of misinformation

A lot of people refer to this as the age of information. We can seemingly get information at any given moment anymore, whether it be through our phones, computers, televisions, radios, and beyond. However, what many of those same people don't seem to realize is that I and many others like me spend more time than ever fact-checking this "information," and more times than not, the information we fact-check winds up being false on some level or another. So while this may be the age of information, it's also the age of misinformation.

I'm truly amazed by how much nonsense is spread on a daily basis, and the sad thing is, people buy into the nonsense and continue to spread it. It seems that the line between fact and opinion has become increasingly blurred and the definition of truth has been altered to mean whatever we want it to be. If 97% of scientists believe global warming is occurring, but an individual doesn't want to believe it, he or she can simply go to a fellow denier (one of the 3%) and claim their position to be the accurate one, without looking at the numbers, odds, and realizing that there's a very good chance they're wrong.

I honestly wonder which is worse - simply being ignorant about matters before the age of information or being ignorant about these matters during the age of information yet feeling confident about the misinformation they spread. I sincerely hope that cable-news and talk radio become more honest, credible, balanced, and journalistic in their coverage, and that people start fact-checking more and being able to properly discern between truth and fiction, between fact and opinion.
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