Misinformation: mistrust, deception, fear ...

I bring to your attention the internet chain letter:
"Please take the time to read this: It could happen to you too!" Followed by some sensationalist drivel about gangs that lure woman using kids and an electrified door handle, AIDS needles in movie seats and vending machine coin returns, a virus entitled POSTCARD that wipes your entire hard drive, muggers that render you unconscious by having you smell 'perfume' they are pretending to sell ...

Its all rubbish! Its all forwarded by genuinely concerned and caring friends or family. And all of it makes me seethe with anger and frustration. What makes me so angry is the effect that this type of misinformation has. It spreads mistrust which blossoms into fear and leads people to further cocoon themselves in their insular worlds thus contributing further to a lack of understanding. What makes that anger burn white hot is that 9 times out of 10 these hoaxes are started by perfectly informed persons simply interested in marketing malicious fiction as fact.

Every time I get one of these dramatised emails I end up sending a (sometimes) polite email in return with reasons why the particular myth is a hoax and a request that they check the validity of any future emails they feel inclined to forward with the excellent tool that Google is or simply checking Snopes. I do however feel that I am fighting a losing battle. I could note that most of these emails use women as the targeted victims, are forwarded by women to other women and seems to prey on women in general. I could ask why that is and tirade about the implications of the answers. I'll leave that for another day.

I will however proceed to comment on the wealth of misinformation available on the internet. It varies from annoying but innocent misunderstanding of literary and scientific works leading to factual errors in school projects to malicious and far reaching misrepresentations in economics, medicine, politics and social order. There are childish sites maintaining that Britney Spears studied semiconductor physics or defaming the character of prominent politicians with outright lies. There are disturbing rumors internationally that South African water is undrinkable (and yes, South Africa has one of the highest water quality standards in the world).

All in all there is so much falsehood, lies, deception, misunderstanding and shoddy thinking on the internet that I am sometimes (only for very short times) in sympathy with crackpots who aim for the downfall of the internet.

In my opinion the problem lies with the unfortunate reality that people are far more inclined to accept information without questioning it than go through the inconvenience (slight as it is) to do a small bit of comparative research. The internet's greatest strength is also its greatest weakness: it is open to all, virtually uncensored and allows instantaneous spread of information across the globe.

Any opinions, suggestions, harmful myths to contribute?

A First Post

It seems an ultimate indulgence ... a blog post about blogging. Generally I would turn my nose up at movies about the film industry, books about writing, songs about songwriting etc. I'd consider it incestuous ... and just plain unimaginative.

But, a blog needs an introduction. The first blog post from a start-up blogger needs a fanfare! - Perhaps I will dispense with the fanfare and just explain my reasons for adding yet another Web Log of personal outpourings to the blogosphere on the internet map.

At first I considered the concept of blogging an incidental aside, interesting as a diversion but perhaps not all that productive to focus any lengthy attention on. Slowly however, I started reading friends and strangers blogs, not religiously but ever more frequently. People blogged about their personal lives, their spiritual journeys, their opinions on topics of general or specific interest ... and a lot of it generated much discussion, a lot of it was well written and insightful. The stuff I kept reading led me along interesting debates and new avenues of thought. Eventually I found the courage to comment on a blog, to put my opinion out there in writing for all to see and critique. And not long after that first foray into blog commenting I started to consider whether I should just go ahead and keep up a blog of my own.

I like writing. I like expressing my ideas and opinions on a wide range of topics but among strangers, indeed among any but my closest friends, I have a tendency to keep my opinions to myself. This in itself makes blogging at once a frightening and liberating prospect. It involves expressing closely held opinions and beliefs to strangers across the globe but at the same time those strangers can engage with my ideas more swiftly and easily, from any corner of the earth, and the discussion that ensues might lead to new insight and understanding for all.

In deciding to call the blog "Question of Motion" I think I encompassed many of my interests and passions in life as well as giving an idea of what I think/hope this blog will end up being about. I have been a dancer for as long as I can remember. I have done many different forms of dancing and in each I experienced a new paradigm, a new part of my soul. Movement and using it as a form of expression has shaped my personal and spiritual growth. I am also keenly interested in heavenly motions. I am studying astrophysics and on a daily basis I find myself further and further entranced by the study of our universe.We live in a remarkable place. All of this however, and much more, revolves around questioning ourselves and the world around us. If we are to express ourselves honestly (in writing, painting, drawing, dancing, singing etc) or search for the truth about God, the Universe or just Life then we must question. We should be as curious as children.

If you have any doubts about the virtue of questions I'll merely suggest you find yourself a copy of "Mister God This is Anna" by Fynn. I can't find quote by Anna I was going to leave you with, about the importance questions, because I picked up the book only to realise it was time to read it from cover to cover again ...