Column #67

“If we are not serious about facts and what’s true and what’s not, if we can’t discriminate between serious arguments and propaganda, then we have problems,” said President Barack Obama. Goose stepping with him, Google, Facebook, and Twitter announced they will block ads on fake news sites. A couple days later a professor issued a list of 150 fake news sites that went viral.

But what is fake news?

We’ve all received viral emails “documenting” disloyalty, dishonesty, unpatriotic, sacrilegious, or (fill in the blank) misdeeds of various notables (insert name). Sometimes the stories are outlandishly false. Others seem plausible, but don’t smell right. A check with FactCheck.org, Snoops.com, TruthOrFiction.com, HoaxSlayer.com, OpenSecrets.Org, or PolitiFact.com often reveals the truth.

Unfortunately many people fall for scams, satires, and hoaxes. During the recent election cycle, many believed unfounded charges, misconstrued facts, and mischaracterizations. Mixed with the nonsense were facts, but individuals interpret “stories” according to their own mental movies (their perceptions of reality). So they don’t recognize facts. With a frenzied media wanting to participate in the election spectacle, the intensity of coverage deeply polarized everyone’s “realities” more than normal. After Trump won, both sides of the aisle ended up demanding an end to fake news.

There is far more ominous fake news than scams, satires, and hoaxes. First is government propaganda which is information, ideas, or rumors deliberately planted in every conceivable media to influence opinions. The other is shmooze to influence consumption or perceptions. In both cases “respected” sources are used to voice “official” mantras as provided by government agencies, marketing departments, and public relations organizations. Unless the public is totally rational, which it never is, it’s being influenced by these official messages.

There’s virtually an unlimited number of information disseminating organizations with the nutrition industry being the biggest one that impacts my business. It pours out a steady stream of reports, announcements, and marketing blitzes that utilize keywords. Some consumers are immune to its info because they believe nutrition is total nonsense. Others understand they are what they eat, but their knowledge is based primarily on marketing and public relations. Therefore both consumer groups have different realities underscored by fake news.

Amongst the fake nutrition news is state-of-the-art nutritional science that’s based on facts of anthropology, biology, chemistry, and genetics. The resulting dietary recommendations are to eat low glycemic, nutrient dense foods with balanced essential fats. The simple message is to eat green leafy vegetables, grass-fed and Omega-3 meats, and wild-caught seafood which hasn’t changed for decades.

Consumers, not trained in critical thinking and the sciences, are very malleable and therefore gullible. But the answer for truth in nutrition is not for government, Google, Facebook, and Twitter to decide. The answer resides in self education, better parenting, and better teachers. Currently our schools and government agencies are crushing critical thinking with safe spaces. People are being isolated from realities so they can live peacefully within their own realities. If we leave news quality determination up to our leaders, then we’ll have entered George Orwell’s 1984.

To your health.

Ted Slanker

Ted Slanker has been reporting on the fundamentals of nutritional research in publications, television and radio appearances, and at conferences since 1999. He condenses complex studies into the basics required for health and well-being. His eBook, The Real Diet of Man, is available online.

Don’t miss these links for additional reading:

List of Fake News Sites by Melissa Zimdars, professor at Merrimack College in North Andover Massachusetts.

Meet The Leftist Professor Who Wrote The 'Hit List' Of "Fake News" Sites

1984 - Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell

Living Our Movie

What Are The Worst Food Scams?