When Dante wrote his Divine Comedy, he created a special place in the eighth circle of Hell for counselors of fraud, sowers of discord, and falsifiers. The false counselors were condemned not because they gave false advice. Rather, they used their positions to encourage others to engage in fraudulent activities. They are not unlike the creators of misleading, inaccurate, and fraudulent memes that the memes’ authors know know will be passed on by unsuspecting followers. These individuals are closely related to those individuals who use social media and their political positions to sow discord instead of striving for unity.

Renée Graham is not the only person who has concluded that America’s current president “was elected president because of his racism, not in spite of it.” But the President is hardly the only prominent person who sows discord. Nor is discord sown only by those on the political right or people in prominent positions.

In her article, Graham argues that

What’s ailing our state is a snapshot of our festering nation. More than divided, we’re fractured and broken — and pouring from every fissure is hatred based on race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, and gender identity. And it has taken root in American schools.

I have twice had students falsify email chains that they then submitted as evidence as to why I should change their grades. Both the students eventually filed complaints against me.

Our students live in a country where the White House has no qualms about releasing a modified video to justify taking away CNN reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials. White House counsel Kellyanne Conway replied to criticism of this decision by claiming, “That’s not altered, that’s sped up.” When people at the highest levels of government can lie with impunity, why should we be surprised if some of our students follow their lead?

As faculty members we need to take a stand against the notion that “It doesn’t matter does it?” by helping students develop the critical thinking skills necessary to understand that a “good point” is good whether or not we agree with it.

To most effectively assist students develop their critical thinking skills, we need to move away from the common academic pedagogy of just defining quality sources which are safe for students to cite. For example, instead of teaching students to avoid .com websites or to look for the works from credible authors or sources, we need to put more focus on analyzing content.

I first became keenly aware that even credible authors published by reputable sources can make mistakes when I read Peter H. Wood’s Black Majority. In his well-written book, I discovered a minor error in one of the footnotes. A more personal example demonstrates the necessity of not trusting something sans verification even if the source is trusted.

Although I am extremely careful in my research and writing, I do make mistakes. In “It Doesn’t Matter Does It?,” I wrote “There is a Buddhist saying that one can never step into the same river twice.” The quote is actually from Greek philosopher Heraclitus. Once a colleague pointed out my error, I immediately corrected it. But, not all errors—such as those published in books or other print resources–are so easily corrected. Furthermore, were I trying to be deceitful, I would not have bothered to make the correction.

In addition to teaching students how to determine accurate sources, we should teach them fact checking skills that require broad based reading. These skills involve asking students to

• Determine what evidence–if any–is cited.
• Conduct Internet searches on the topic to discover whether or not what is written is consistent with what else is being published. Searches should also be made to check accuracy of quotations; especially to determine whether or not the quoted material is made up or taken out of context.
• Do a Google image search to determine whether or not the photographs show what they are reputed to show or whether or not they have had their meaning changed by cropping.
• Check websites that specialize in fact checking. Websites like Snopes and Politifacts lay out their evidence so that the reader can judge the work of the fact checker.

Telling our students that there is a special circle of Hell reserved for them if they produce false information either deliberately or through lack of rigor is likely not an effective pedagogical strategy. But we might take some satisfaction knowing that Dante created a special place in the Inferno for those who try to deceive our students as well as the wider population.

–Steven L. Berg, PhD

 

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