Alternative fact overload and how to deal

Alternative Facts. Fake news. Lies. Call it what you will. You know the phrase has reached celebrity status when the online encyclopedia, Wikipedia has a page dedicated to it.

The danger in propagating Alternative Facts is that gullible or uneducated people believe them to be true. This, in itself, is a tragedy. The carnage, however, unfolds thereafter and can have a lasting impact on generations. Not everyone uses reason and logic to verify information before disseminating it. Advancement in networking has given rise to the internet and with it, various social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. With this advancement has come a flooding of Alternative Facts and a significant number of people who genuinely believe and spread them. 

My appeal is to my tribe (the people who know better but are often too polite or disinterested to correct people). You have friends and family who remain blissfully ignorant about how very factually incorrect they often are. Speak up comrade!

You have a friend who thinks the world is a few thousand years old? Sorry friend, it is actually closer to 4.5 billion years old.

You have an aunt who thinks we evolved from monkeys? Sorry aunty, apes and humans evolved from a common ancestor. That means that we share DNA with monkeys. We are related. In fact, you share 90% of your DNA with your cat. Don't believe me? Fact check that here.

If you are unsure if what you see or read is true, use a fact checker. I like these fact checker websites:

africacheck.org
www.hoax-slayer.com
www.snopes.com
www.truthorfiction.com

Media Bias Fact Check says "A good fact checking service will write with neutral wording and will provide unbiased sources to support their claims.  Look for these two simple criteria when hunting for the facts."

One day when we are able to create self-improving A.I, my hope is that the information it learns on the internet is true and accurate. If it isn't, Elon Musk might be onto sometime when he says that self-improving A.I is the greatest existential threat to humankind.

The truth is out there.