(Liberty Shield Network) –
A meme circulating online recently linked former President Donald Trump’s visit to a McDonald’s with an E. Coli outbreak in the area. Though likely intended as a joke, the post quickly spread, with some individuals beginning to believe the claim.
In reality, the E. Coli outbreak began three weeks before Trump’s appearance, making any connection between the two events impossible. This type of false association is a common logical fallacy, where two unrelated truths are linked to create a misleading conclusion. It’s similar to saying, “I’m wearing a hat, and it’s not raining outside, so my hat must be preventing the rain.” Both statements are true but have no actual connection.
In the world of online communication, it can be tough to distinguish humor from sincerity, especially when tone is hard to interpret. This challenge is similar to misunderstandings in text messaging. Many have experienced confusion or conflict with family or friends due to the tone of a message being misread. Comedians Key and Peele even explored this issue in a popular sketch, where one character misreads the tone of a casual text and assumes a fight is brewing.
While humor and satire play an important role online, experts recommend caution when sourcing political information from social media, where context and intent can be easily lost.
—
Read more Liberty Shield Network News
