The term “fake news” may soon be part of the official dictionary of the Merriam-Webster company. Merriam-Webster is the modern incarnation of a 187-year-old company that first published Noah Webster’s A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language.
The definition will run something like this: “False news stories, often of a sensational nature, created to be widely shared online for the purpose of generating ad revenue via Web traffic or discrediting a public figure, political movement, company, etc.”
Last year I asked this question: “Is fake news the web sites that claim the moon landing never happened, or is the government spreading fake news that men did walk on the moon?”
Fake news at its purest is a lie. The information falls somewhere between the cracks of “The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.” Commentators are fond of pointing out that, if the public is taken in by fake news, they deserve what they get for not being smart enough to spot the lie.
If that is the case, then news should only be read by mothers and teachers, since they are the best at catching lies.
My motto is that I totally believe whatever anyone tells me until proven false. The mirror image of my motto is “Do not believe anyone on anything until proven true.” Maybe that is really my motto.
Much more disturbing than fake news is dumb people. I am not talking about those that believe everything they read on the Internet, but people who are ignorant of facts and prefer to remain that way.
It is like the small child who thinks that chocolate milk must come from brown cows. That might be normal for a 6-year-old, but it does not sit well with an adult. Yet, that is the kind of nonsense we are faced with every day. It is not that people are “dumber” today than in the past. It is just that, because of the Internet and social media, we are exposed to people’s “dumbness.”
I never imagined how many people thought that the world was flat until the Internet exposed them.
For over 50 years, I have been following and learning about the global financial and asset markets, and, on April 1, I will have been a paid professional at this for 42 years. Some of the things I read on the Internet about the markets are so absurd, they would bring tears to a dead man’s eyes.
Since we first installed home Internet almost 20 years ago, any time my sons asked me questions like “Who is Mahatma Gandhi?” I always tell them to look it up and then ask me questions. When they come to me with “I read on the Internet that…”, I tell them to find me five web sites that agree with that statement and five that disagree. I hope they have learned critical evaluation.
Yesterday I read that the local stock market reaching a historic high “means nothing because so few people invest.” “The historic high is a result of government policies.” “The historic high is a result of price manipulation by the administration.” These are not stated as “I think” opinions. These are “I know” facts.
Everyone is born ignorant, but you have to work at it to remain that way. And the reason for the recent historic high is completely obvious. The next full moon will be a Blue Moon—the second full moon of the month—on January 31.
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E-mail me at mangun@gmail.com. Visit my web site at www.mangunonmarkets.com. Follow me on Twitter @mangunonmarkets. PSE stock-market information and technical analysis tools provided by the COL Financial Group Inc.