Gell-Mann Amnesia Effect: Eyeballs Over Accuracy
"You open the newspaper to an article on some subject you know well.. and see the journalist has absolutely no understanding of either the facts or the issues..and then turn the page and read as if the rest of the newspaper was somehow more accurate..” -Michael Crichton
A Tall Order
Bitcoin is multidisciplinary and multifaceted. It represents a major paradigm shift in innovation and the communication of value. Thus it can take years to gain a basic fundamental understanding.
Expecting a journalist, using the same research methods as they would any other topic, to be able to accurately capture just part of the story is a tall order.
There are many traps, biases and common fallacies that people fall prey to where journeying down the rabbit hole, of which journalists are not immune.
Red flags like these should serve as warnings for the general level of accuracy of all other content from that same author and/or publication.
The News Today
Journalists unfamiliar with the intricacies of Bitcoin may still be assigned to report on it, and with tight deadlines. Syndication deals coupled with the intense speed of the news cycle can see the same story spread across multiple outlets before any feedback can be gathered to correct basic errors.
A hobby among bitcoiners is keeping track of especially bad takes (because honey badger don't forget). Proudly proclaiming the death of the most resilient communications network we've ever had is the peak of arrogance.
Aligned Incentives
When you base a publication's revenue model on advertising, you're optimizing for eyeballs over accuracy. As such, you can expect to hear only the most outlandish and extreme takes.
And boy does Bitcoin makes for a good target for the intellectually lazy.
What to Do About It?
Ignore it. 🔇
Seriously, tune out the noise and focus your energy on better uses of your time- deepening your own knowledge or helping others eager to learn.
Because if you believe Bitcoin is inevitable, then the only thing you can impact is the order in which people adopt it.
Extra Credit
Bitcoin Obituaries
"Bitcoin is dead" was declared more than 400 times. This is the official source for all Bitcoin obituaries since 2010.
Alain De Botton on The News
The news is everywhere and we check it constantly but what is it doing to our minds? A part of modern society that we take for granted.
