Don't believe the hype

2007-07-23T06:31:00Z

There’s a hell of a lot of information on the internet and most of it isn’t even close to being true. Facts and figures covering everything from sex toys to space travel (and everything in between) are thrown out into the ether, with less chance of being scrutinized than an Olympic cyclist on the hooch.

Unlike the good/ bad old days when if a statement was printed you could pretty much set your watch by it, these days identifying the correct answers for your geography course work is as much of a gamble as buying tickets to the Strokes on Ebay. Most of the information is anonymous, nothing is ever referenced properly and you’re old friend Wikipedia is about as reliable as a smoke-damaged fire alarm.

But most of the lies are obvious. Nobody is really stupid enough to believe that the double decker bus was invented by Eskimos or that frogs and apple juice share the same genetic make up. I did once manage to convince a cerebrally challenged work colleague that Maltesers were the number one export in sunny Malta, and that the country was falling apart since the invention of those new chocolates that melt in your mouth and not your hand, but he really was an exceptionally stupid person.

No, the bullshit you have to watch carefully for is the stuff that could almost be true. Honestly, who knows if Mel Blanc, the voice behind Buggs Bunny, was really allergic to carrots? How practical is it to be researching if a pig’s orgasm lasts for over 30 minutes or whether sex burns 360 calories an hour. What book do you reference to see how long the average human spends sitting at traffic lights or changing their socks? You just can’t tell.

So beware out there kids and don’t trust anyone. Set the bullshit detector to red alert and feel free to phone a friend if you still can’t decide whether a pregnant goldfish is called a ‘twit’. FYI……it is. At least that’s what it said on the internet.

Dont believe the hype

Don't believe the hype