Dear Vocal Readers,
Oh, the truth, it's something that can be hard to find in today's society. With the whirlwind of fake news we see every day, how can we even tell what is real anymore?
In my junior year of high school, I had my first eye-opening experience about the lies we so easily believe. Having been in study hall with no work to catch up on, I made plans with my friend to go visit her class and chill with her. The class was "Theory of Knowledge," and the teacher was amazing, so he thankfully let me sit in and watch the presentations being done that day.
Being in that class as well, but on a different day, I was already aware of the presentations going on. I had done one myself with two friends, but can barely remember what we learned. But his, now his I remember clearly. There are a handful of people you will meet in your life that can just grab your attention and amaze you with whatever they have to say. This guy was one of those people. Despite being extremely racist and sexist, he delivered one hell of a presentation.
He started off his presentation by telling us some historical facts. He was a known history buff and no one doubted any of his knowledge on the topic. I cannot recall the specific information he told us, but I recall they had been some very interesting facts. For a boring old presentation, he ended up making it interesting. Little did we know, it would only become more interesting.
He simply tells us that everything we were just shown had been false. His facts were in truth lies, yet we all believed him. I looked around, dumbfounded, and found some other expressions that mirrored my own. He had the whole room feeling like fools, and he had done it with ease. Had he never told us his information was false, we all would have walked out of that class believing we just learned some interesting historical facts. It opened my eyes to how easily we believe the words of others and just how easily we can be manipulated.
Upon seeing his presentation I decided to learn more about fake information being relayed to our society. What I found was disturbing, but what was really scary was the fact that I don't even know if the information I discovered was fake or not. I had found a statistic stating that 34 percent of all news stories we see are completely fake. I expected that the internet would be full of lies, but to find out they were even on our news channels was shocking.
Another statistic had stated that a whopping 68 percent of all web articles were either entirely false or had some sort of lie within them. This means that for those who rely on the internet for their news are likely reading falsities. If you fall under this category then don't worry, there are many steps you can take to ensure you are reading true stories.
In a 2017 experiment led by scientist Malcolm Brown, a group of people were subjected to fake news stories. This group was told that they were all receiving true facts and stories—when in actuality they were not. With the group believing these stories to be true, they then discussed the issues with one another. After the discussion, they were sent home, with everyone in the group living in the same town. The true part of the experiment came a month later. Scientists went around to random houses in this town and asked if anyone had heard about the stories the group was told. Since it was a small town, word got around quickly and 87 percent of the houses visited had heard of the stories and could give specific details about them.
The experiment was designed to see just how quickly and how much fake news could be spread around. The group simply believed the stories were true, so they spread them around their town. In one month, a majority of the town had heard these fake stories and believed them as well. Malcolm Blown got the results he had been expecting, proving just how fast false stories can spread without our knowledge.
Unfortunately in today's society, we can never be 100 percent sure that the information we are being fed is accurate. We need to take matters into our own hands and make sure that we are receiving our news from credible sources, and we must never forget to question things. If we simply accept everything as fact, we can never truly be sure they are accurate. So stay smart, research, and know what is really going on in our world.
Sincerely from my paranoid mind,
Kacie
(Oh, and by the way, every single one of my statistics was fake. I made the numbers up randomly within a few seconds and made up my own facts. The experiment was also a lie I came up with on the spot. I also "messed up" on the scientist's name who was leading the experiment. I changed it from Brown to Blown as a hint that something was off. Were you clever enough not to fall for my trap? Just remember, everyone, you can't always take a stranger's word for truth.)
About the Creator
Kacie
Just an aspiring writer trying to gain experience :)
Follow my adorable kitties on Instagram and Tiktok @joethehoe.finnforthewin <3
Well-Intentioned Whistleblower or Opportunist?
“I want to believe that you're telling the truth But something tells me don't trust you” – Agnostic Front When a family enrolls a child in a school, the district immediately starts incurring expenses. Space must be reserved for each student and teachers assigned to those classrooms. The district must ensure that textbooks and other supplies are available. These costs are constant and do not change when a child misses a day of school.
By Carl J. Petersenabout 21 hours ago in The Swamp
Rivers of Death
Rivers bring water the element essential to all life on Earth but wherever rivers flow they also bring death surprise attacks Savage kills and brutal fights every day is a battle for survival on these rivers of [Applause] death I'm under the African Sun Staying Alive is hot thirsty work and among the ranks of animals jostling to get a drink lurk Killers waiting to strike but while Lions may be fearsome and the huge Nile crocodiles ruthless Predators one of the continent's deadliest River Killers is mostly vegetarian renowned wallowers spending up to 16 hours a day lounging in the water hippos could be mistaken for relaxed creatures and yet the river horse as their name translates from ancient Greek can be a very angry pony indeed with tusks up to a foot and a half long hippos are literally armed to the teeth and a charging bull Hipp can impact with the weight force of a pickup truck what's more hippos May brutally defend their territory an Impala has been chased into a muddy Watering Hole by a lion it's stuck but for fortunately for the stricken analou the lion is reluctant to follow it into the Meer unfortunately it finds itself in the domain of a hippo ill disposed to uninvited guests the hippo's not stealing the watching Lion's meal she's most likely just aggressively defending her calf and the Impala pays the ultimate price for crossing a doting mother hippos are thought to kill more people each year than the rest of Africa's most dangerous animals combined and during mating season their ruthless aggression is directed at other hippos two bulls square up the pod's dominant male and a Challenger at stake the Riverbanks Prime mating territory and a Herm of females the dominant male puts on an aggressive display posturing to show he will not yield but the interloper Demands a fight finally the dominant male is Victorious the Conqueror celebrates with a dung shower marking the border of the territory he has successfully defended while the vanquished suffers more than just the agony of defeat his back is carved open and by Sunset the crocodiles are watching closely they'd be unlikely to take on a bull in rude Health but now they Circle an expectation the hippo breathes his last the price of insurrection is life his Hulk will not go to waste the crocodiles move in swiftly to Feast on the corpse for these voracious Predators it's a considerable meal but one dead hippo is a mere snack compared with the annual Feast provided by a particular African river each year the serengetti vast grass Plains filled to the Horizon with grazing animals taking part in one of Nature's greatest spectacles around 1 and2 million wilder beast join 700,000 other herbivores on the Great Migration around 1 in six of these migrants will die before completing the 500 M circuit many are outrun and taken down down by Africa's formidable array of Savannah carnivores their Journey coming to a Grizzly end but one of the deadliest single obstacles the vast herds must Traverse is the mara River after 3 months on the move the wilderbeast are exhausted and emaciated all that separates them from the Fresh pastures of the msai mara is the width of the river and a whole bunch of huge ravit Nile crocodiles despite the chilling threat posed by these powerful Predators some of the herd are either oblivious to the danger or so thirsty they dare to take a drink anyway for an unlucky few it will be their last and these witless victims merely wet the Croc's appetite the true Feast begins when the first of the herd Braves the river in the crush and Chaos of the crossing the 16t Crocs grabs scores of victims when 1,600 lb of musc futile the marus Crocs survive on meager rations for most of the year so take full advantage of the great migrations time of Plenty they Gorge themselves eating up to half their body weight in one sitting and with so many different species crossing the river the banquet is as varied as it is Bountiful but not all Africa's Crocs have such an easy meal ticket on the banks of this Kenyon River a Croc has got too close to a pack of feeding Lions a move it's about to regret it's a fierce attack but the Crocs skin is covered in bony armor plating eventually the Lion's Uninvited Guest Retreats having taught the Crocs and dinner manners the big cats return to the carcass the Amazon is a giant of a river and and conceal some monstrous Predators which kill with a crush and in a bloody frenzy draining a lowland Basin of close to 3 million square miles around 1/5 of the water that runs off the earth's surface is carried by the Amazon this giant of a river is renowned for its oversized residence both prey and Predator around 4 ft long and and weighing as much as an adult human capibara are the world's largest rodent they're
By cacloaidongvat3 days ago in The Swamp
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