The Naturale Yogi

In the year 2000 or even in 2010, if someone told you that the earth was flat you would think that person was either crazy or you were talking to a four year old who didn’t know any better. Today a group of people actually believe that a spherical Earth is just a conspiracy, among other things that are complete nonsense and insanity. Go ahead and type “why do some people think that the Earth is flat” on Ecosia (if you don’t already use this search engine then go ahead and change your default to that first and help plant trees) and you’ll see what I mean.

As someone who spent four and a half years doing research to earn my Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Engineering, it’s still mind-boggling to read articles and listen to witty comedians talk about these theories that are floating around online. There are people who believe that Oprah Winfrey and Barack Obama are part of some secret organization who eats children! What are people even doing right now to be able to come up with these kinds of ideas. Although these things are easy to spot as fake news and insane theories, some people are quick to believe messages about other things that are being shared on social media that isn’t quite as obvious a lie as those already mentioned. Whether it’s about some medical advice for the common cold or facts about the Earth there are so many crazy ideas floating around online and what do we do with this? How do we prevent an entire generation of people growing up and thinking that everything they see online is the truth?

We really need to think about where we get our information. Any social media account or a random influencer no matter how many followers they have must not be taken seriously especially if what they are saying or promoting is something that is outside of their credentials. Just like you wouldn’t go and see a cardiologist if your health problem requires the services of a dentist, or you wouldn’t go to a bakery to find fresh vegetables or meat. It’s so sad to think that with all the information available to us in 2020 that more and more people are being lied to and misguided. It is so easy to just follow the bandwagon and not fact check or question ideas.

Remember that most things circulating on social media is neither fact checked, peer reviewed, or even edited for grammatical errors! There are no editors or publishers to make sure that the content is stated as fact or fiction. We all need to use what Hercule Poirot calls our little gray cells to think before believing things to be facts and regard all other ideas as only opinions.