Do you really believe that?

People are gullible. Really gullible. I have to think that part of it comes from a lack of education and a lack of critical thinking (which definitely explains why both of those things are so important). I just got another message on facebook saying that facebook has gotten too slow from having too many members (really? Come on, people! Do you actually believe that?) and that I needed to send that very message to 15 people to show that I'm an active user so that my account wouldn't get deleted in two weeks! I guess it makes sense... I mean, if they wanted to see if my account was active they could just check the last time I logged in, or send an official message to everyone, but having an email chain get sent around where everyone sends it to 15 people sounds reasonable too... oh wait, no. No, it doesn't. Also, did you know that facebook is going to start charging?! A random group that I was invited to join says so! After all, facebook isn't making NEARLY enough money, and there's no way that a competitor could gain ground if facebook started charging! Did you know that if enough people join a certain group, then facebook agreed to change back to the previous layout? Actually, there are a lot of groups that got that same agreement from facebook! The internet said so, right inside of those group invitations, and the internet never lies. Ever.

I also have to laugh at all the tests that are on facebook. I'm always getting invited to take tests that are "scarily accurate." How can a test that determines which 80's movie I am be "scarily accurate?" What is that even based on? Not reality, I can tell you that much. Basically, someone sat down with a list of possible outcomes, made up a few questions, then assigned the outcomes. They have no meaning, no significance, and they are about as accurate as the M.A.S.H game we used to play on the bus during elementary school field trips. (I guess that could be defined as "scarily accurate" too.)

It doesn't stop with facebook, though. I knew people at work that convinced themselves about all kinds of absurd things. One day they told me that they had a method to determine any truth. It was easy, you just had to choose two possible options, close your eyes, and wait to see which direction the cosmic forces of the universe caused you to lean. The option associated with that side was the answer, and it was ALWAYS correct! (or, so they believed). So, I devised a simple test and asked them to test their hypothesis. It failed miserably (of course).

I can't help but think that if people would step back and actually think about what they are doing and saying every now and then, they might have a clearer vision of reality. Does the idea in question make any sense? Is it plausible? What's the source of this new information? (and no, 'Bob' and 'Jane' don't count. Where did they get it from? What's the original source?). I'm always surprised at how gullible people can be. Perhaps the mark of an educated person should be that they don't fall for so many lies so easily.