Information Overload

Where do you get your medical information from? Your doctor? Dr. Interwebs? Dr. Paranoia and Imagination? I would venture to guess you get your medical insights from all these sources if you are anything like me. 

Where do you get your news from? The World Wide Web? The television? Newspapers? NPR? Social Media? WhatsApp? I will admit I’ve used all those sources at one time or another. 

With the advent of the internet, we are having an information explosion. We know too much, and we also know too little. Let me explain…

I know about the daily mishaps of the current president because I follow some sources on Facebook, such as Occupy Democrats and Anonymous, etc. The reason I follow these sources is not because they are reliable, but because they are usually either extremely provocative or hilarious. I require my news to be dramatic and funny. Is that really a good thing?

I mean, if we look at the Jimmy Kimmel situation, it actually could be a good thing. Satire, poking fun at authority, is the best news there could be. And let’s have a moment of silence for free speech. This past week, Americans spoke up about Disney cancelling Kimmel because he mocked the president. America won that battle, but the war is not over.

Do we actually live in the freest country in the world? The jury is still out on that one. But one thing is for sure, one of our most loved news sources is comedians, and we need them just as much as we need hard news. It is okay to get some news from everywhere; we just need to be aware that everything and everyone has an agenda.

Now going back to my medical situation…I don’t immediately call the doctor when I have an ailment. I usually first use my unreliable imagination to come up with a possible diagnosis. Then I go on the internet and try to confirm what I already think I know, when I know nothing. Literally nothing about medicine. I live with a doctor, but this has no bearing on my investigation into my physical illnesses. I actually sometimes think the World Wide Web knows more than my doctor mother. 

When does all of this get dangerous? There are home remedies on the internet for all things from headaches to cancer. Should we really be treating our cancer with herbs? But reading about medical information on the web is like reading all the side effects of your medicine; all of those side effects are usually minimal, but they will suddenly start to appear if you focus on them. 

When does getting our news only from comedy sources and social media start to get perilous? Let me ask you something: do you really understand the crises in the Middle East between Israel and Palestine? If you are anything like me, you only have a cursory understanding of this situation that is so complex that it is baffling politicians and very informed people all over the planet. 

Are we supposed to take a side? Many news sources on the internet are slanted, biased, and take a side. Where do we turn for the truth? Is there an objective truth? What are the facts? How much of everything on the web is propaganda? How are we supposed to decipher all this?

I teach my students in research writing that there is no such thing as objective truth, there is only their truth, and it is their job to find their own personal truth after considering all the conversations and arguments that exist about a certain topic. This is all our jobs. However, there may not be an objective truth, but there are scientific and historical facts. We cannot ignore these.

Literally, if you want to think something or some way, someone on the internet will confirm your views. I am a liberal by nature, but I am not unaware that the Democratic Party in America does not have all the answers. I have started to really dislike conservatives more and more each day, it seems, because of this confirmation bias.  

The left has painted a very grim picture of the right, and all of this has made me dislike people who disagree with me. The right is just as guilty. These conservative people that I disagree with on political issues are human beings first. I’m starting to not see them as human because they do not share my social and fiscal views. 

I need to really examine this in myself. Most Republicans are probably not completely racist or misogynistic. I need to really take a look at myself first, where is my prejudice? I may have something against old white men. (Who, by the way, have the highest suicide rate in America right now). That’s an entire demographic of millions of people that I have stereotypes about. Am I killing them with my prejudices? 

Going back to medical information on the internet for a moment, we think sources like WebMD are legit, but do we understand medical terminology at all? Literally all of the words in medical language are in Latin. You have to basically learn a dead language before you can even begin to understand your medical condition. 

We need to leave the diagnoses to the professionals. They have spent their entire lives studying the human body. Just because we have a human body does not mean we understand it. Yes, doctors can be wrong; that’s why you should get a second or third opinion, but if 3 out of 3 doctors disagree with you and your information from the internet, you are probably wrong. 

The internet is probably the greatest invention of all time. But it could also be the most dangerous invention of all time. Anyone can write anything on the internet; there is nothing stopping anyone. We as a species are not always intelligent enough to know the difference between bullshit and facts.

I started getting vertigo a few years ago, and I honestly thought that maybe I had a brain tumor. I pulled that theory out of my ass. The number one sign of a brain tumor is a headache. Every time you have a bad headache, are you going to worry that you have a brain tumor? It turns out my vertigo was an inner ear thing; I learned this from a real, live physician. But if I had had any headaches along with it, I’m sure I would have lost sleep. 

There is so much deception in the air that our government is falling for the absolutely false claims that vaccines are dangerous. No, all real evidence points to the fact that vaccines save lives. There is hard medical evidence for this; the man responsible for starting the rumor that vaccines cause autism has been debunked as a clown by the medical community. Do your research. I know this because it was a popular topic among my college students, and I would read their research papers on the topic and examine their sources. 

Another new myth is that Tylenol causes Autism. There is absolutely no evidence that this is true. In fact, Tylenol can be crucial to a pregnant woman’s health if she were to become ill. How do I know this? Again, do your own research; it’s not that hard to find the facts in this matter. This particular untruth about Tylenol is being touted by the president himself. Of course, we all know that doesn’t mean anything. I don’t care what side of the aisle you sit on; you must realize that anything that comes out of his mouth is usually nonsense.

This is where the internet is not our friend. Political and medical rumors spread like wildfire on the web. When these two things converge, they can create complete chaos in our society. There will likely, unfortunately, be another pandemic. With all these medical falsehoods, defunding of medical research, and mistrust in vaccines in our political environment, will we even be able to fight it this time?  

I’m sure you have heard the phrase, Physician Heal Thyself. The truth is, even doctors need doctors. Most of you reading this are not doctors; you cannot heal yourself. Go see a real, living, breathing medical practitioner. Most of you are intelligent readers, but are not completely safe from believing in political propaganda. None of us are safe from it, really. Watch yourself. Examine yourself and your own bias before you accuse others of things you yourself are guilty of. 

We are all victims in this battle for truth and facts. Unless you are someone who just spreads information that you make up off the top of your head, you are also being preyed upon by those who do this. Go beyond the internet, talk to professionals. Open a book, read a reputable newspaper. All of these things can also have bias, but just try for god’s sake.  

This very blog post you are reading has bias, so do your own research. Come up with your own answers. Don’t just take what I’m saying for granted. 

nina