I Heard...
Apr. 6th, 2020 05:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
billroperA brief rant follows.
I was reading Facebook a few minutes ago (bad for my blood pressure; good for realizing that there are still other human beings out there) and saw a statement that began with "I heard".
Really? From who? Are they a particularly trustworthy source of information? Or are they notable for pushing their own agenda? Have you, perhaps, "heard" this from more than one independent source? (Blogs -- or even "reputable" news sources! -- that are busily quoting each other in a circle do not count as independent sources, although it's interesting to see how many of them are willing to put their reputation on the line.) Did you hear *part* of the story, because the rest of the story doesn't serve the purposes of the person who you heard it from?
We are *all* on edge. As I was saying in a conversation with a friend of mine a few days back, we are desperately short on actual data.
I would *love* to have more data.
I have very little use for "I heard".
I was reading Facebook a few minutes ago (bad for my blood pressure; good for realizing that there are still other human beings out there) and saw a statement that began with "I heard".
Really? From who? Are they a particularly trustworthy source of information? Or are they notable for pushing their own agenda? Have you, perhaps, "heard" this from more than one independent source? (Blogs -- or even "reputable" news sources! -- that are busily quoting each other in a circle do not count as independent sources, although it's interesting to see how many of them are willing to put their reputation on the line.) Did you hear *part* of the story, because the rest of the story doesn't serve the purposes of the person who you heard it from?
We are *all* on edge. As I was saying in a conversation with a friend of mine a few days back, we are desperately short on actual data.
I would *love* to have more data.
I have very little use for "I heard".