You know what’s super embarrassing? Sharing a seemingly innocuous news article or a facebook post about something only to have someone else, five minutes later, provide me with evidence that proves what I shared is inaccurate. It totally sucks to fall prey to click-bait BS.
But you know what’s worse? Not being able to accept the “whoops” aspect of it. Full-fledged throwing yourself into denial just because it sucks to be proven wrong helps literally no one.
I hate being wrong. Do you know what I do to remedy that? I keep myself informed.
At any given time, I have twelve tabs open on my computer for sites that can give a full-scope picture of a news story. I don’t even believe anything I read on the internet anymore without checking it against at least five disparate but credible sources. And I have several fact-checking sites bookmarked and ready to go at the drop of a hat because I hate being wrong. I hate making an idiot of myself.
It’d be really swell if more people had that kind of self-respect. It’d be really cool if people weren’t in denial about even fact-checking sites, or claim all those sites are owned by the Clintons, or fall victim to even more conspiracy theories that make them look god damned insane before they would ever admit to being wrong about something. Just once.
It’s okay, everyone. No one can be right all the time. And it's okay to admit you were mistaken--or, at the very least, quietly delete a comment or post and pretend you never said anything. Either option is viable.
Do you all realize how privileged we are? We are SO lucky to live in a time where all the knowledge we could possibly wish to obtain is literally at our fingertips. If something looks fishy, we can swipe around and find the answers we seek. If we're unsure what we think is correct, we can click a few buttons--or hell, even talk at our computers--and find the truth.
When people make the choice to remain ignorant, I'm going to make the choice to lose patience.
Taking the opportunity to educate yourself (FOR FREE with very minimal effort) and spitting in the face of that privilege is inexcusable.
