astutia

Let's talk about a different kind of public education for a moment. Hopefully this is maintained as but a moment...because I can get pretty passionate about the standard of education the public tends to uphold.

But first, a quick exposé on a dangerous substance that can be found virtually everywhere:

This chemical is found in overwhelming quantities in our oceans, is used on all crops, is found in the brains of cancer patients and the lungs of smokers. It is used in all vaccines. It was responsible for the sinking of the Titanic. And the government is allowing for it to be piped directly into your home.

In case you haven't gotten the joke already, dihydrogen monoxide (DHMO) is simply the long way of saying H2O, which is water.  You can educate yourself more about it here.

I find this little hoax amusing, to be honest, mostly because it is harmless.  If people actually get scared enough about all of the dangers of DHMO, it only takes twenty seconds and a google search for them to learn what it actually is.

That's the catch, though...you have to get your information from a reliable source.  And dhmo.org may look authoritative on the subject, but it's not really going to give you scientific answers in a neutral light.

This is obviously an instructive metaphor for things that are of a much less harmless nature.

There will always be some agency or individual out there, especially on the interwebs, spreading information about corrupt politicians or whether a certain substance or practice is harmful.  There are plenty of controversial things in the world, and no better place to blow them out of proportion than the internet.  But the internet can also be a great tool for education. And if more people were willing to educate themselves based on well-executed research rather than getting information through facebook campaigns, well-angled media, and manipulative corporations, I think we would be able to make better societal progress toward appropriate solutions.

Obviously, you can find just about whatever you are looking for on the internet.  Need an article to villainize renewable energy? Not hard to find. And one to praise it as the only solution? Also a simple find.  We need to be able to determine what we can accept to be true.

One of the best ways to sort things out of a scientific nature is to look for peer-reviewed articles.  These can easily be found using the filtered search engine, Google Scholar, which filters results to include only scholarly articles that are peer-reviewed and published by experts in the field.  This means that research was conducted and analyzed using approved scientific methods, and then the procedures, results, and conclusions were reviewed by multiple experts in the field for accuracy and quality before being published.  All of this establishes great scientific authority on the topic.  These articles can be long and very technical, but all of them include an abstract that can usually be viewed free (whereas the actual article may be in a journal that requires a subscription) and that abstract is a simple summary of what is in the article. This can give you a better idea as to what the science behind the topic is actually saying.

Of course, even peer-reviewed scientific articles cannot establish absolute truth alone; one of the quickest discoveries of any scientist is just how much we don't know.  Therefore it is important to also search for scientific articles that might support opposing points of view or related topics.  While this may not resolve the controversy, it can help you know what we do know, what we don't know, and what we are trying to do to figure it out.  It will help you sort out the fact from the fiction from the yet-inconclusive theories surrounding the topic.  And these generally have higher authority than whatever facebook story or infographic started the controversy.

Peer-reviewed articles are not the only reliable source, especially depending on the topic.  There are many websites with significant authority concerning the information they share, including .gov and .edu sites.  These suffixes mean that the web page is published by a governmental organization or an educational institution and generally are required to practice good information techniques and present information in a neutral light.  Websites published by organizations (.org),  commercial entities (.com), and anyone who can buy a domain name (.info) are under no obligations with regard to the quality or type of information they choose to supply.

When it comes to news sources, it can be more difficult to find a reliable, neutral source that will provide the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.  Because of this it is important to do thorough research (especially on social or political issues) and gather as many articles as possible from different sources--liberal, conservative, public, private, even local and international. This will help you know what information is most reliable. The information is more likely to be reliable if it is found in multiple sources, especially sources coming from various angles.  You can also look for primary sources such as interviews with public figures or actual quotes from documents, speeches, and so on.  Having a broad array of news sources can also help you interpret the information better.  Many sources will lead the story into a certain conclusion depending on the views and goals of those presenting as well as their primary audience. This is not inherently a bad thing. Reading reports from various sources can help you gain multiple perspectives and consider the issue in ways you might not normally do so, for example on a local versus global scale.  Having a deeper understanding of the issue and its multiple sides will then help you draw a better conclusion as to what is true and what is the best thing to do.

These practices won't protect you from ever being misled about something, but it will make it much less likely for you to engage in a meaningless argument on the internet where neither party can separate fact from opinion.  It can also help you be a more well-informed and critical reader of the things that you see online and in the news.  Most of all, I hope it helps people to open their minds to new evidence and ideas, to be willing to say they were wrong about something, and to be willing to discuss controversy civilly and move toward a solution and a compromise.

So, next time you find some surprising information on your facebook feed or in the news, please take a quick moment to do some research before sharing, commenting, or otherwise reacting.  You may find out that the terrifying chemical found in all autopsies is really...just water.