The internet and me

 I openly acknowledge that my gift for prophecy has been mixed. One prediction that I got badly wrong was that the internet would be an unalloyed good for society. Making facts and evidence easily available would, I wrongly believed, make for an informed electorate that would make wiser decisions as a result.

Instead what has happened is that the internet has spawned and fostered an expanding cesspool of lies and misinformation. While lies and information in media are not new--indeed go back centuries--the ability to distinguish fake from real is not widely distributed, nor is the willingness to use that power by many who possess it.

The internet has been a boon for me, not only as a scientist to quickly locate scientific facts and evidence, but as a citizen to challenge and evaluate stuff I read online. An important skill in making this work is to recognize and avoid confirmation bias, the human tendency to only seek out evidence for things we already believe.

Being wrong isn't fun, I know. But acknowledging error and the humility to learn from it are skills worth cultivating. Certainly, all the best scientists know this. I wish more of my fellow citizens did.