*Walk out holding apple*
*Take a bite of apple*
Did you know you are 34.7% more likely to choke on an apple than any other fruit? And that Julius Caesar actually banned apples because he thought they were making his people sick?
Or, would it surprise you to learn that none of those "facts" are true?
As Mark Twain once said, "There are three types of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics." Perhaps some of you were convinced by the precise statistic I provided, or assumed that a student presenting a speech must have surely done her research. We, as humans, are naturally gullible and are easily fooled by official-looking clothes or documents. We don't scrutinize every new piece of information we are presented with, and this tendency to believe nearly everything we see has led to a pandemic of fake news.
*Pause*
Fake news is not a new concept. It's almost as old as the media itself, and there is evidence of its existence from as early as the sixth century AD in Israel. Procopius, a Byzantine historian churned out dubious information, known as Anecdota, which he kept secret until his death to taint the reputation of Emperor Justinian. He …show more content…
A two-and-a-half year old child named Simonino had gone missing, and a Fransican preacher, Bernardino de Feltro gave a series of sermons alleging that the town's Jewish community has murderer the child and drank his blood to celebrate Passover. The rumors spread like wildfire. Before long, da Feltre was claiming that the boy’s body had been found in the basement of a Jewish house. In response, the Prince-Bishop of Trent, Johannes IV Hinderbach, immediately ordered the city’s entire Jewish community to be arrested and tortured. Fifteen of them were found guilty and burned at the stake. The story inspired surrounding communities to commit similar atrocities, in perhaps one of the first cases of
*Take a bite of apple*
Did you know you are 34.7% more likely to choke on an apple than any other fruit? And that Julius Caesar actually banned apples because he thought they were making his people sick?
Or, would it surprise you to learn that none of those "facts" are true?
As Mark Twain once said, "There are three types of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics." Perhaps some of you were convinced by the precise statistic I provided, or assumed that a student presenting a speech must have surely done her research. We, as humans, are naturally gullible and are easily fooled by official-looking clothes or documents. We don't scrutinize every new piece of information we are presented with, and this tendency to believe nearly everything we see has led to a pandemic of fake news.
*Pause*
Fake news is not a new concept. It's almost as old as the media itself, and there is evidence of its existence from as early as the sixth century AD in Israel. Procopius, a Byzantine historian churned out dubious information, known as Anecdota, which he kept secret until his death to taint the reputation of Emperor Justinian. He …show more content…
A two-and-a-half year old child named Simonino had gone missing, and a Fransican preacher, Bernardino de Feltro gave a series of sermons alleging that the town's Jewish community has murderer the child and drank his blood to celebrate Passover. The rumors spread like wildfire. Before long, da Feltre was claiming that the boy’s body had been found in the basement of a Jewish house. In response, the Prince-Bishop of Trent, Johannes IV Hinderbach, immediately ordered the city’s entire Jewish community to be arrested and tortured. Fifteen of them were found guilty and burned at the stake. The story inspired surrounding communities to commit similar atrocities, in perhaps one of the first cases of