The idea that we are living in a "post-truth world" has become fashionable, but I like Andrew Campbell's take: "There are many historical examples of commonly held beliefs that have little basis in fact. Since the 1700's people have believed in the existence of a plot to control the world by the Bavarian Illuminati. McCarthy's communist witch hunt, the belief in a flat earth, assertions that the Apollo Moon landings were faked and the conspiracy theory that the attacks of September 11th 2001 were an 'inside job' are more modern examples of popular ideas which have no basis in fact, yet still endure." The internet did little to correct this, and if anything, has accelerated it. This creates an onus on us to ensure that the students we teach are aware of filtering algorithms, gather news from multiple sources, and have the ability to understand different perspectives on issues.
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