Keep your BS out of our Knowledge Pool
Don’t pollute our shared knowledge
Shared knowledge is a public good. Travelers rely on accurate maps to plan their routes. Healthcare professionals rely on accurate anatomical data, physiology information, disease characteristics, and treatment efficacies to treat patients. Chemists rely on the periodic table of the elements to develop and analyze chemical reactions. Policy makers rely on accurate knowledge of international relations, public health conditions, security threats, economic conditions, scientific findings, environmental conditions, climate science, crime rates, educational outcomes, civics, human rights, and peoples’ wellbeing.
Disinformation pollutes our pool of shared knowledge. We do not tolerate trucks dumping crap into the municipal reservoir. Similarly we must not tolerate bullshit being dumped into our shared knowledge base. Each of us has a moral responsibility to protect the accuracy and purity of our shared knowledge base. Advance no falsehoods. Know how you know. Use dialogue to explore matters of controversy. Seek true beliefs. Speak up when others are advancing falsehoods. Ensure the purity of our shared knowledge base.
