It’s truly amazing how information can shift and change as it gets relayed from person to person. At Element’s employee parties, we play the game “Pass it On.” A phrase or a sentence is whispered in an ear; that phrase or sentence is then whispered to another person, until everyone in the room has heard it. By the end of the game, the initial phrase or sentence has transformed into something else entirely.
The game happens in real life, too. Information relayed to us on a daily basis can be so skewed. It can be hard to determine what is real and what is not. Is the information from a reliable source? Was it translated properly? Misinformation is unfortunately passed on to us at alarming rates, and can have a huge impact on us day to day.
We see this all of the time in the media. The media takes bits of factual information, and spins it into a story that no longer resembles the original fact. Even if people know this happens, some still believe what the media tells them without asking any questions. The influence media has on society is amazing!
We are seeing this happen now with the coronavirus. It’s hard to tell, in the rush of misinformation, what is fact, and what is fiction. Should we be terrified? Or is the media stoking fear to continue to get us to click articles?
John Oliver nailed this trend on the head in “Misunderstanding Scientific Studies,” a segment about the ways that the media twist scientific studies to make click bait. “Coffee today is like God in the Old Testament,” he laughs, noting all of the contradictory things coffee has been reported to do on the news.
If you need to laugh today, I would recommend watching it! It might give you a little bit of relief in this culture of fear. It’s always interesting to remember how the media enacts their own version of “Pass It On.”
Acupuncturist, herbalist, Maya abdominal practitioner, and reflexologist Christina Morris is the founder of Element Natural Healing Arts. Writing about health and wellness gives her an outlet to express her care and concern for her beloved community. She believes everyone can achieve better health and happiness–emotionally, physically, mentally, and spiritually.