Blog Entry Number 3

 "I Know The Truth, So Don't Bother Me With Facts" by Jeffrey Kluger is a story about people who are easily convinced by a rumor that they've heard and even with the bold facts in their face they will deny the truth. People are so weakened by lies and rumors that they hear and come across so he explains why it's so easy for someone to believe a rumor and tries to find a way to change peoples beliefs on rumors
  
 The weakness of lies was on full display at ground zero downtown Manhattan in the shouting match over the planned mosque.Researchers did a study to see how deep false beliefs are and what he had to do to free people from it. R. Kelly Garrett and Erik Nisbet , assistant professors from Ohio University, did another study on people. They recruited 750 people who believed one of the rumors about the Islamic center. they then spoke facts about the center to see if that would change the people's mind about the rumors that they have heard and if so how well and clear those facts should be presented. because of they study they came up with 2 conclusions: 1)  it is easy to persuade people with pictures or quotes 2) people still believed what they did even with facts to prove them wrong. I feel real significant about that because once someone mind is set to knowing something they are not going to change their mind from facts, because they already had it set that what they first heard was the truth. Garret cites many resources stating that when people hear rumors, even with the facts to back it up as to why it might not be true, they still contradict from what they think they already know and block out the truth. Because of that they still have not figured a way to get people to change their minds about rumors. Some investigators are still looking into the studies to see the reasons why people believe what they have heard or seen.  

 I am one of those people who believe something that I've heard and it is very hard to change my mind about it. If I hear a rumor repeatedly I would think that rumor is true because if it wasn't why would so much people spread it. Most rumors are true but have a bit of information that makes it false. The saying "A lie is always half way true" is what i believe about rumors. Wherever that rumor came from, whoever spread it, must have known some factual information about what it was but wasn't completely sure so they added their own story to it.

I Know The Truth

People easily believe rumors and lies that they are told. The weakness of lies was on full display at ground zero downtown Manhattan in the shouting match over the planned mosque. Researchers studied how to get someone to not believe all of the rumors they've heard. Assistant professors recruited 750 people who reported believing at least one of the rumors about the proposed Islamic cultural center. They then determines would the facts of the subject change their opinion and if so how can that be done. Garret and Nisbet (assistant professors) came up with 2 conclusions: 1)  it is easy to persuade people with pictures or quotes 2) people still believed what they did even with facts to prove them wrong. Garret cites many resources stating that when people hear rumors, even with the facts to back it up as to why it might not be true, they still contradict from what they think they already know and block out the truth. Some investigators are still looking into the studies to see the reasons why people believe what they have heard or seen. 

Advertisements , which are papers or big billboards with tons of information containing different things are very popular in the U.S. In today's society commercial pollution floods our brains at the rate of about three thousand marketing messages per day, as stated in the story "Hype".

    Hype by Khalle Lasn is all about advertisements and the popularity between them and how they can easily distract a human in everyday life, from the moment their alarm clock wakes them up. Kalle Lasn wants her readers to realize that wherever they go they will notice that an advertisement is somehwhere around. Some common places that advertisements will be posted on are buses and billboards. If you were to drive on a road trip you are guaranteed to see plenty of big billboards with advertisements on them. As you stand and wait for a bus the bus stop and the actual bus will have advertisements on them. Advertisements on buses and billboards are usually help full , such as you driving and you see a billboard with an advertisement about the nearest food restaurant that you can go and eat in. When i was ten i went on a road trip with my family and we were driving up the road and we had to make a rest stop but we didnt know where the nearest rest room was. A few more miles into the drive we saw a billboard advertising the nearest hotel. With the helpful information from that advertisement we were able to go to the hotel for a rest stop. Some other things that advertisements can appear to be on are clothes, trains, buildings, etc.

   "There is no where to run. No one is exempt and no one will be spared"as Khalle Lasn wrote in the story. Everywhere you go there is a advertisement, big or small , sometimes repeating the same information about certain things. If you dont visually see an advertisement then you will more than likely hear one on a radio station or a television commercial. Advertisements can be very persuasive and allow people to rethink things that the advertisement is trying to sell out.

Second day of college and it rocks !!! :) :D