Friday, March 26, 2021

OMG, what did I have to read in one of the biggest Estonian newspapers:

“Blogijad võivad suuremate tagajärgedeta anda hinnanguid rasestumisvastastele meetoditele, vaktsineerimisele, inimeste toitumisharjumustele ja arstide pädevusele. Nemad peavad seda kogemuse jagamiseks, aga arstide tööd teeb see aina keerulisemaks.” (Arstid hädas: patsiendid kuulavad ekspertide asemel Paljast Porgandit)

I commented as follows:

Seda artiklit ma ei tahagi edasi lugeda. Blogijad teevad arstide töö muidugi paremaks. Muidugi läheb maailm keerulisemaks, mida enam me saame ise kaasa mõelda. Muidugi saavad ravimifirmad rohkem kasu, kui me seda ei tee. Muidugi tuleb õppida, kuidas teha vahet loba ja teadusliku töö vahel.

Yes, a blogger can potentially cause big damage by formulating some idea that seems true but actually is false. But so can others, including the greedy giants.

This article is wrong in that it describes bloggers as dangerous while leaving greedy giants unmentioned.

False information produced by a honest blogger (a human who is not being paid directly or indirectly by a greedy giant) is just an accident (which we should of course learn to avoid and to repair), while a greedy giant has legally approved motivation and qualified experts to publish legally correct lies, serious lies that are difficult to unmask. Such lies are our real danger.

Yes, the information revolution is far from being at its end! Humanity yet needs to learn how to manage the flow of opinions and news that are being published every minute.