Fake News

F is for fake news. Your feed is a tool
for Russia to make you its slave.

A Thinker's Book of Dangerous Knowledge (a book review post)

Some book reviews are more difficult than others. Which probably goes without saying except that I don't think it does since a "review" for most people amounts to "I loved this!" or "This sucked ass!"
Of course, those hardly qualify as reviews, but that tends to be the state of the world, and there's not a lot in between.

There should be a lot in between.

The stuff in between often requires a lot of thought, though, which is kind of the point of this book.

So let's get it out of the way that I know Peter. Like for real. Like he lives a few blocks away, and we go over to his house sometimes to do things like play Cards Against Humanity. I've known Peter for pretty close to 20 years now.

We like a lot of the same things, so I get all of the jokes and references in the book. However, there are a lot of them. At some points, I would say that there are too many, that the jokes detract from the message. I say that as someone who gets them. If you're not a Monty Python fan or a Doctor Who fan or... well, a fan of any of the other things frequently referred to, then this book isn't going to work for you. You're just going to end up confused by all the things you're not getting. And that's too bad, because there is some worthwhile material in here. But Peter has created his book, probably inadvertently, to appeal to fairly niche audience, most of whom probably don't need a book like this to begin with. The people who need the book are the ones who have the jokes flying over their heads.

Which would be the time to tell you that if you are unfamiliar with Monty Python et al. that you should probably check them out, because everyone should have some kind of passing familiarity with... things, but that reminds me of another thing from the book, because Peter mentions so many times that you should run out and buy... whatever he's referring to at any given moment, like the complete collection of Flying Circus... that you'd think he's getting paid for product placement. Or getting a commission on sales, and I'm pretty sure that's not true. Pretty sure. At any rate, while it's amusing to be told to run out and buy some other author's books once or twice, after a while, you begin to wonder why you're reading the book in your hand.

And that thought isn't helped by how often Peter tells you that you probably shouldn't be reading his book, anyway. Self-deprecating humor only goes so far before you start to believe the person saying it.

All of that aside, it's not a bad book. Despite that it deals with kind of a heavy topic, Peter keeps it light, and it moves along fairly quickly. If you're unfamiliar with more formal thinking strategies, this book could be part of a good introduction. It's the kind of thing that can put you on the right path, though it's not really the path itself.

I could go on about all the whys and wherefors, but in this day and age when the word on any given day consistently has something to do with "fake news," thinking and how to do it and why to do it ought to be something everyone is, well, thinking about. Especially before you forward any news bites. Or, even, before you believe what the President #fakepresident is saying. So the book isn't perfect and could use some shoring up in places (like the section about deductive vs. inductive reasoning), but it's a good start.

A good start which will never be seen or read by the people who need it most, which is, unfortunately, most people. Because most people never move beyond their search for confirmation bias and most people don't read... Hmm... There's probably a connection there.

Social Media and Politics

The current political climate has made social media kind of tricky. And prickly. In more genial times, social media tends to be a mostly superfluous time waster full of cat videos and people trying to sell you stuff. Which is not to say that it's not still those things but, now, it's also full of political controversy, fake news, and hurt feelings.

Of course, part of the beauty of social media is that it can be used for all of those things or none of those things. It can be a great tool or just a way to keep in contact with people. All of which is also part of the ugliness of social media.

And all of which is a bit beside the point while also still being part of the point.

I've been on social media for a while now -- haven't we all? -- but, more importantly, I've been using social media for the vast majority of that time. Yes, I'm drawing a distinction between merely being on social media and using social media. "Everyone" is on social media, but most people don't use it. Or, at least, they haven't been. However, with the new political awareness that's happening, there is an accompanying call for more people to shift from just being on social media to actually using it for more than just being connected to people and posting memes.

And some people are... trepidatious... about that, about stepping up and putting social media to a use beyond just on. Not to mention the people who aren't even on social media suddenly being asked to develop a presence there.

With that in mind, here's a brief guide to the use of social media in the age of politics (from someone who in no way claims to be an expert at social media):

1. Be aware of the consequences.

Yes, there will be consequences, almost certainly. The least of these will be that people with whom you have been "friends", and even actual friends, possibly for years and years, will unfriend you (or unfollow you or whatever the applicable term is for your platform). This could be because they have philosophical differences with your political position or affiliation, or it could be for the simple reason that they don't want to see political posts because they've decided that they're too negative and would rather bury their heads in the sand and only watch the aforementioned cat videos. However, you could also be harassed by people who don't agree with you or even threatened. This is the kind of thing many people don't stop to think about ahead of time and, then, are surprised when it happens, so it's better to know what you're getting into.

2. Know your message and choose the social media platform that best supports that message.

This part is on you to do your research and to know what it is you want to accomplish. Do you write long-winded essays declaring your views to the world? Twitter probably isn't for you as a primary platform. Do you caption pictures, turning them into funny memes? Maybe you want to look at snapchat. Really, though, choose a platform that supports your message and what you want to accomplish.

3.  Along with that, know your audience and use the platform most likely to reach them.

There's nuance here between #2 and #3 that I'm not going to spend the time to try to explain, right now, but, to put it simply, if you're trying to reach people like me, snapchat is not the platform you want to use. Snapchat might be the platform most suited to your message, but, if I'm your audience, you're not going to reach me. You need to, as much as possible, harmonize your message to your audience and to the platform best suited for both.

4. Join groups.

Find some political action groups on your chosen platform(s) that have similar agenda items and become active in them. They can be a great support system and provide ideas you might not think of.

In no way is this list comprehensive, but it should help point you in the right direction.