Facebook Epistemology

Ben "Moose" McIntosh

Social Media is a part of every fabric of our lives.

There are memes for entertainment, politics, health, and science.

Shouldn't this make us want to vet what we read?

Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business by Neal Postman

-During presidential debates before tv, people would go to day-long debates.

-Now, we get our information fed to us in soundbites and such.

Does social media offer us an accurate source for information? Is the answer to that contingent?

Does social media change the way we perceive facts and opinions? If so, how? Are these changes good or bad?

Does social media change the way we communicate intellectually? Is Postman correct?

Are we losing the ability to think in complex thought? Are we a society of soundbites and "knowledge" in 140 characters? is this necessarily a bad thing?

Is social media conducive to information vetting? Can we determine legitimate sources?

Does social media create a false authority?

have we trivialized our world?