How to tell what to trust online

[Troy]

This video popped up when I brought up YouTube today.  On some level it feels like Google knows I was talking about this subject  Neil describes 13 of things you should consider when evaluating information online.  Some of this is common sense. 

 

 

@Pioneer1, for what it is worth, you should check out this video. Perhaps it will help you think about information you pull from the web and how you use it to form opinions.    

 

 

[ProfD]

Brotha Neil deGrasse Tyson drops excellent points to consider when it comes to gathering information. 

 

8 hours ago, Troy said:

Some of this is common sense. 

Therein lies the slippery slope. Common sense isn't a shared trait among people.

 

Most people are surface level thinkers. They aren't going dig too deeply into much of anything. Just enough to get what they *need* in order to maneuver through life. 

 

I go back to those bibles folks like to carry around. Very few believers have read it thoroughly from cover to cover. 

 

The most powerful people on the planet thrive on those who don't *know* any better.

 

information and knowledge can be hidden in plain sight like a $100 bill.

 

[Troy]

@ProfD I’m not sure what difference they would make if people read the Bible. There are so many different interpretations It’s hard to believe it describes the same religion.

 

Pioneer, for example, believes, the Bible teaches us that Black men have the biggest penises and accepts this revelation as proof that it is true — and this is after reading the Bible in four different languages!

 

People can read the Bible and make it justify anything. 
 

The reality is that for the vast majority of time the Christianity has been in existence, most of its followers could not read the Bible.

[ProfD]

6 hours ago, Troy said:

@ProfD I’m not sure what difference they would make if people read the Bible. There are so many different interpretations It’s hard to believe it describes the same religion.

I was only referring to the bible as a popular book that many people of faith haven't read thoroughly.

 

If people aren't willing to read the ONE book of their beliefs, getting them to read other books and other sources seeking knowledge and information will require a level of effort. 

 

Back in the day, I remember public service announcements encouraging young people that Reading is Fundamental (RIF). There was also Reading Rainbow.

 

The average American is literate in their ability to read. I still contend it is surface level. Just well enough to follow directions and get things done and not get unalived.

 

Brotha @Pioneer1 is in a minority having read the entire bible several times and in different languages too. That's another level.

 

[Troy]

1 hour ago, ProfD said:

I was only referring to the bible as a popular book that many people of faith haven't read thoroughly.

 

I undwerstood. 

 

I was just emphasizing the bible for most of its existence couldn't be read due to illiteracy.  The printing press was invented until 1,500 years after Jesus the Christ's death.  Basically, reading the Good Book is not a requirement for being a Christian.   So I wouldn't beat them up on that point.

[ProfD]

1 hour ago, Troy said:

I was just emphasizing the bible for most of its existence couldn't be read due to illiteracy.  The printing press was invented until 1,500 years after Jesus the Christ's death.  Basically, reading the Good Book is not a requirement for being a Christian.   So I wouldn't beat them up on that point.

There is no excuse for folks born within the past 125 years and counting.

[Troy]

Maybe the last 75 years...  I doubt most Black men read well enough in 1900 to understand the bible.  I don't even understand it 

 

 

[Pioneer1]

Troy

 

I’m not sure what difference they would make if people read the Bible. There are so many different interpretations It’s hard to believe it describes the same religion.

 

That being the case, how can you condemn another person's interpretation or claim it's wrong or taken out of context?

 

 

 Pioneer, for example, believes, the Bible teaches us that Black men have the biggest penises and accepts this revelation as proof that it is true — and this is after reading the Bible in four different languages!

 

Actually, I only read the ENTIRE Bible in one....English.

I read PARTS of it in different languages but not the entire thing....although that's one of my distant goals when I have time to do so.
I've gotten a MUCH better understanding of not only the Bible but of history in general by taking a closer and more detailed look at the time period and what the authors really were trying to convey in their original languages.

 

 

 

The reality is that for the vast majority of time the Christianity has been in existence, most of its followers could not read the Bible.

 

Which is why they remained Christian.
Most Christians who took time to actually READ their so-called holy book would actually LEAVE their religion.

Reading the Bible is one of the things that actually took my out of religion.

Especially when you realize by reading the Old Testament that the Bible teaches that their are MANY Gods/Deities....not just One.

 

 

 

 

 

ProfD

 

 

Back in the day, I remember public service announcements encouraging young people that Reading is Fundamental (RIF). There was also Reading Rainbow.

 

Oh man, you're bringing back memories!

I think my man Levar Burton was on that show for a while...lol.
Also Maya Angelou had a few cameos on it....if I'm not mistaken.

 

 

 

Brotha @Pioneer1 is in a minority having read the entire bible several times and in different languages too. That's another level.

 

As I told Troy, I've only read the entire Bible in English.
I study sections and passages of it in it's original Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic languages through TRANSLITERATION.

It's a real eye opener.

You realize that a lot of the words in English have been PURPOSELY mistranslated in order to confuse the readers.

 

[Troy]

3 hours ago, Pioneer1 said:

That being the case, how can you condemn another person's interpretation or claim it's wrong or taken out of context?

Easy, you can have multiple interpretations, but some of those are clearly wrong.  .

 

again your interpretation of that passage to mean that Black people have the biggest penises as clearly way of the mark. I’ve read a couple of interpretations and none of them come close to yours.

 

Is your interpretation shared by anyone else or are you bold enough to believe that your unique interpretation is the only one that’s correct and everyone else is wrong?

[Pioneer1]

Troy

 

On 12/4/2025 at 10:42 PM, Troy said:

Easy, you can have multiple interpretations, but some of those are clearly wrong.

I agree that SOME of them can be wrong, but how would you KNOW they were wrong?
What standard or criteria is out there for us to measure each interpretation against to determine that one is right, one is wrong, and one is "way off the mark"?

If I tell someone that this is wrong, that means I have to have the knowledge of what is right.

If someone asks you for an address and you give them one, and I tell you the address you gave them was wrong....that means I have the RIGHT address.
How else would I know it's wrong?

Same with this.

In order for me to determine that something is wrong, I must know it correctly.

 

[ProfD]

@Pioneer1, depending on the audience, it's hard to substantiate a position without facts, proof and/or evidence. Definitely so when it comes to anything interpretative.

 

The judicial system is buillt on using facts, proof and evidence to make the case one way or another.

 

Bottom line is one should question,  challenge and verify information especially if it is presented without facts, proof and/or evidence.

 

Because anyone can be a journalist i.e. report information, fact-checking is a very real thing nowadays.

 

For example, whenever someone tells me something, the 1st thing I want to know is the source. If they tell me it was reported on a social media site...red flag. I walk away.

[Pioneer1]

ProfD

 

depending on the audience, it's hard to substantiate a position without facts, proof and/or evidence. Definitely so when it comes to anything interpretative.

 

Facts.

 

 

 

The judicial system is buillt on using facts, proof and evidence to make the case one way or another.

 

More facts.
 

 

 

 

Bottom line is one should question,  challenge and verify information especially if it is presented without facts, proof and/or evidence.

I agree with this also, but the problem is when you question religious scripture....regardless of it's translations...some people will say that you are challenging the word of God!

 

Although you're an agnostic, surely you can understand the anxiety that type of feeling can bring to some.

 

 

 

 

 

Because anyone can be a journalist i.e. report information, fact-checking is a very real thing nowadays.

 

It's hard to fact check something that was written 500 and 1000 years ago ABOUT things that happened 2000 and 3000 years ago...lol.
 

 

[ProfD]

1 hour ago, Pioneer1 said:

I agree with this also, but the problem is when you question religious scripture....regardless of it's translations...some people will say that you are challenging the word of God!

 

Although you're an agnostic, surely you can understand the anxiety that type of feeling can bring to some.

Sure. I get it.

1 hour ago, Pioneer1 said:

Because anyone can be a journalist i.e. report information, fact-checking is a very real thing nowadays.

 

It's hard to fact check something that was written 500 and 1000 years ago ABOUT things that happened 2000 and 3000 years ago...lol.

At some point, people should know that religious scriptures are mostly allegorical.

 

Religion is made up sh8t to keep people in check.

[Pioneer1]

ProfD

 

At some point, people should know that religious scriptures are mostly allegorical.

 

Most people aren't going to accept or acknowledge this.

Many of them fear that to even question those scriptures puts them at risk of going to a Hell or being tormented.

Infact, most people don't even READ most of the scriptures of their religion.
They get bits and pieces of it from clergymen who TELL them what they want them to know.
And even the little bit they are told, many of them don't really believe.
They just accept it and forget about it in many if not most cases.

I was...and still am....different.

I believe in THE SUPREME BEING and if you tell me this particular book or scripture is from THE SUPREME BEING I'm going to drop everything I'm doing and read it!

Why wouldn't I?
What would or could be more important to read, than the words of THE CREATOR and most Powerful BEING in Existence?

In my mind, there is nothing else worth reading that could compare.

So I read the Bible!
It wasn't until AFTER reading the Bible that I realized that this book couldn't have come from THE SUPREME BEING.

Not exactly sure who or Who all it came from?
But certainly not THE SUPREME BEING.

I'm still a little puzzled as to why most people don't have the desire to do the same; but.......
 

[ProfD]

6 hours ago, Pioneer1 said:

Infact, most people don't even READ most of the scriptures of their religion.
They get bits and pieces of it from clergymen who TELL them what they want them to know.

Right. That's why so many bibles still look brand new.

6 hours ago, Pioneer1 said:

I believe in THE SUPREME BEING and if you tell me this particular book or scripture is from THE SUPREME BEING I'm going to drop everything I'm doing and read it!

That's fair. Many people have done it.

6 hours ago, Pioneer1 said:

It wasn't until AFTER reading the Bible that I realized that this book couldn't have come from THE SUPREME BEING.

Not exactly sure who or Who all it came from?

Right. Upon realizing man wrote the books of the bible as inspired by the Supreme Being...it falls apart. 

 

Then, there's the King James version and NIV and other translations of the same book written thousands of years ago allegedly. 

 

It would seem that a Supreme Being doesn't need an intermediary to write His instructions down.

 

Humans have been blessed/cursed with the ability to rationalize anything and just enough knowledge to be dangerous.