memorizingthedigitsofpi

Current Mood: frustrated

(no subject)

You know that overwhelming urge you get to post a correction when someone is wrong on the internet? I'm currently feeling that with a vengeance. But the problem is that if I post a correction, that'll just draw more attention to the wrongness.

In this case, it's probably best to let the wrong exist in relative obscurity and just bite my fucking tongue until it bleeds.

I just hate the fact that people will read 1 person's account of a complex situation and just say, "yes, that is 100% truth and an exactly correct interpretation of everything. There is certainly nothing being left out or spun. nope. this random username I've never seen before can be trusted implicitly."

And like, I don't have any "inside information" to add, really. I just have critical thinking skills and an ability to smell bullshit from a mile away.

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Holding yourself back sounds like the right instinct, well done on managing it! It sure isn't easy :)

it is, in fact, very difficult yes lol

You could always just.... Explain yourself without framing it as a response to anyone. Just make a general post on the topic 🤔

I thought about it, but since the issue all began with a single person posting, if I write a generic response it will still end up drawing attention to that person's story. Unless I want to end up in a lot of back and forth (and probably unwanted drama for anyone even tangentially involved) I need to keep my trap shut. Especially since I'm not involved at all. I can just read a post and side eye it so hard I look like a Picasso painting

That is very mature of you, yes. Sometimes being right is not worth the drama.

yeah. at this point, my internal debate is less about "do I want to avoid drama" and more about "do I want to use this as an object lesson to teach people critical thinking skills"

Ugh, yes. Sometimes you just have to block all the people being wrong for your own sanity.

I swear I have half of tumblr blocked already lol. How many more people can I block before my dashboard is empty? XD

There is barely any "hearing" going on, let alone "listening".

sigh. yeah, I can imagine. I'm just seeing this as I drive by the car wreck and even from that perspective, it's a total shitstorm.

it makes me want to make yet another side blog and just teach critical thinking skills

If you have a reliable way to teach critical thinking skills, my professional half would love to know.

I got a question about the issue at hand, so now I get to decide if I think I DO have those skills 🙃

I'd go with an "I'm not an official venue and don't have all the information". Hell, if it is about that, I saw portions of it go down and I don't have all the info.

yeah, I just posted and that's the route I took

That is a horrible feeling. I think you *are* likely doing the right thing by not drawing further attention to The Wrong. It's also unfortunate when people widely share bad takes/misinfo/straight up lies that you otherwise would never have seen. Even when the sharing is accompanied by corrections, people still wind up seeing the wrong shit.

But it suuuucks.

so muuuuuch

it's not at the level of the "spotify wrapped dropped on this day in order to distract from Palestinian protests" wrong, but it's still just a seriously bad take that too many people are accepting at face value

Seems like there's always a lot of that sort of thing going around. I wish people were better at putting forward at least *some* critical thought before buying into every conspiracy theory/deeply biased account/outright fabrication that they come across.

I understand how it happens. When you're already outraged and horrified, posts that justify and strengthen those feelings really hit on a visceral level. It's why I'm unfollowing people left and right. I'm trying not to get sucked into the cycle myself.

That's fair enough, and it really IS something that you have to be mindful of ALL THE TIME, which is an extra frustration and drain when basically everyone lives on the edge of utter exhaustion and burnout at all times. Righteous outrage also feels superficially good - at least a bit cathartic, and like you're Doing Something by confronting some evil force in the world.

yeah. I can't do news-on-social-media at all anymore. the emotional turmoil is not good for my brain.

That's a very wise decision.

Reminds me of when I reblogged something I didn't realize was wrong, my friend posted a link where someone debunked it and I was able to reblog that version. I've always tried to second guess from then on before boosting anything.

same! we've all made that mistake before, and we all either learn to read things more carefully or check sources or wait to see if other information comes out. it's understandable to get caught up in something but when I see folks actively *creating* the mess... argh

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