Urban Legends Project
Phase One:
Dictionary.com defines Urban Legend as: "A modern story of obscure origin, with little or no supporting evidence that spreads spontaneously in varying forms and often has elements of humor, moralizing, or horror."
If it’s on the internet, it must be …
There’s an interesting and actually somewhat strange conflict in common culture these days.
Most people realize that “If it’s on the internet, it must be true” is a sarcastic falsism to express just how inaccurate information on the internet can be. Just because it’s published on a website somewhere (or shows up in your inbox, on Facebook, or wherever), doesn’t make it true.
However, I would wager that most people actually do believe most of what they read on the internet. Those same people that smile knowingly at that falsism and claim to agree with it will often run out and believe the strangest, most bizarre, completely false things, as long as the information is presented in a way that makes them seem credible.
They do it without thinking, or seeing the irony in their behavior.
From what I’ve seen, this is getting worse.
We believe what we want to believe
There are a couple of terms that help explain, at least in part, why that might be.
Confirmation bias is the natural tendency we all have to believe things that confirm what we already believe and dismiss what we don't. Confirmation bias can be as simple as dismissing alternative viewpoints out of hand, and as horrific as being tried and arrested for expressing beliefs that are not commonly accepted (think Galileo).
The problem with confirmation bias, as Galileo so clearly illustrates, is that it often stands in the way of the truth.
Put another way, we believe what we want to believe. We believe those things that match our own world view and our own agenda, whether or not we are right.
The echo chamber is a term we’ve been hearing more and more in recent years. It’s the tendency of information sources – most notably news media – to repeat each other. In a sense, they use each other as sources. The problem is that a story that originates from a single source – be it true or false – can appear to have massive objective confirmation when we start hearing that same story from a variety of supposedly independent sources.
Those sources aren’t independent at all – they’re just repeating what they heard from each other.
And it all started from a single source …
… a source with an agenda.
50 shades of gray
Things get more complicated still.
We desperately want things to be simple. We want things to be true or false, black or white, right or wrong.
Good or evil.
It’s much easier to comprehend “true” and “false” than it is to deal with the potential uncertainty of “mostly true”, “kind of wrong”, or something in between. Unlike whether the sun circles the earth or the other way around, the issues that we deal with, talk about, and even rant about are rarely so simple as to have easy yes/no, black or white answers.
The folks who write headlines and push agendas know that thinking is hard for many of us. They know that black and white is easier, and (bonus!) much more sensational. So, they simply pick and choose the “facts” that support black-and-white thinking at the exclusion of the significantly more nuanced truth.
Source:
https://askleo.com/stop-spreading-manure/
This work by Ask Leo! is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Additional information is available at https://askleo.com/creative-commons-license/.
Dictionary.com defines Urban Legend as: "A modern story of obscure origin, with little or no supporting evidence that spreads spontaneously in varying forms and often has elements of humor, moralizing, or horror."
If it’s on the internet, it must be …
There’s an interesting and actually somewhat strange conflict in common culture these days.
Most people realize that “If it’s on the internet, it must be true” is a sarcastic falsism to express just how inaccurate information on the internet can be. Just because it’s published on a website somewhere (or shows up in your inbox, on Facebook, or wherever), doesn’t make it true.
However, I would wager that most people actually do believe most of what they read on the internet. Those same people that smile knowingly at that falsism and claim to agree with it will often run out and believe the strangest, most bizarre, completely false things, as long as the information is presented in a way that makes them seem credible.
They do it without thinking, or seeing the irony in their behavior.
From what I’ve seen, this is getting worse.
We believe what we want to believe
There are a couple of terms that help explain, at least in part, why that might be.
Confirmation bias is the natural tendency we all have to believe things that confirm what we already believe and dismiss what we don't. Confirmation bias can be as simple as dismissing alternative viewpoints out of hand, and as horrific as being tried and arrested for expressing beliefs that are not commonly accepted (think Galileo).
The problem with confirmation bias, as Galileo so clearly illustrates, is that it often stands in the way of the truth.
Put another way, we believe what we want to believe. We believe those things that match our own world view and our own agenda, whether or not we are right.
The echo chamber is a term we’ve been hearing more and more in recent years. It’s the tendency of information sources – most notably news media – to repeat each other. In a sense, they use each other as sources. The problem is that a story that originates from a single source – be it true or false – can appear to have massive objective confirmation when we start hearing that same story from a variety of supposedly independent sources.
Those sources aren’t independent at all – they’re just repeating what they heard from each other.
And it all started from a single source …
… a source with an agenda.
50 shades of gray
Things get more complicated still.
We desperately want things to be simple. We want things to be true or false, black or white, right or wrong.
Good or evil.
It’s much easier to comprehend “true” and “false” than it is to deal with the potential uncertainty of “mostly true”, “kind of wrong”, or something in between. Unlike whether the sun circles the earth or the other way around, the issues that we deal with, talk about, and even rant about are rarely so simple as to have easy yes/no, black or white answers.
The folks who write headlines and push agendas know that thinking is hard for many of us. They know that black and white is easier, and (bonus!) much more sensational. So, they simply pick and choose the “facts” that support black-and-white thinking at the exclusion of the significantly more nuanced truth.
Source:
https://askleo.com/stop-spreading-manure/
This work by Ask Leo! is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Additional information is available at https://askleo.com/creative-commons-license/.
Phase Two:
Now that we have a basic understanding of what to expect...
Read through all the stories on the site below. Look for similar devices (hooks) to grab your interest.
In a Google doc, include the following:
1. YOUR NAME!
2. Title it: Urban Legends Project Phase Two at the top.
3. List the title of each and give a brief (at least one full sentence) summary of each of the 25 Urban Legends starting with #25 and working your way to #1.
4. Make notes under each UL as to the author's intended "hook" that was supposed to capture your interest.
5. Rate each UL. (boring, interesting, cool)
6. Signify one UL as your favorite (you must pick one favorite, but only one, for this category).
7. *Use Times New Roman 12 pt. font
8. When you finish Phase Two share the document with me.
As always, remember NOT to click on any ads!!!
Now that we have a basic understanding of what to expect...
Read through all the stories on the site below. Look for similar devices (hooks) to grab your interest.
In a Google doc, include the following:
1. YOUR NAME!
2. Title it: Urban Legends Project Phase Two at the top.
3. List the title of each and give a brief (at least one full sentence) summary of each of the 25 Urban Legends starting with #25 and working your way to #1.
4. Make notes under each UL as to the author's intended "hook" that was supposed to capture your interest.
5. Rate each UL. (boring, interesting, cool)
6. Signify one UL as your favorite (you must pick one favorite, but only one, for this category).
7. *Use Times New Roman 12 pt. font
8. When you finish Phase Two share the document with me.
As always, remember NOT to click on any ads!!!
Phase Three:
P3 Worksheet: Nuts and Bolts of Urban Legends
Use this website and the one below to answer three important questions before setting off on your own.
Your mission is to create an Urban Legend of your own. Include these successful elements to satisfy the recipe for SUCCESS.
What is necessary for a story to become a legend?
It must have the following elements:
S. Simple
U. Unexpected
C. Concrete
C. Credible
E. Emotional
S. Sticky
S. Stories
Criteria: Your Google doc, titled Phase III with your name at the top of the doc, must contain all the elements mentioned above. It must seem believable. It must be well-written. It must be at least one page in length. It does not have to be in Times New Roman, but it must be readable and it must be in a 12pt font.
WARNING: If it does not appear you have tried, you will NEVER ESCAPE this phase! You will be doomed to wander the desolate plane of Phase 3 forever.
P3 Worksheet: Nuts and Bolts of Urban Legends
Use this website and the one below to answer three important questions before setting off on your own.
Your mission is to create an Urban Legend of your own. Include these successful elements to satisfy the recipe for SUCCESS.
What is necessary for a story to become a legend?
It must have the following elements:
S. Simple
U. Unexpected
C. Concrete
C. Credible
E. Emotional
S. Sticky
S. Stories
Criteria: Your Google doc, titled Phase III with your name at the top of the doc, must contain all the elements mentioned above. It must seem believable. It must be well-written. It must be at least one page in length. It does not have to be in Times New Roman, but it must be readable and it must be in a 12pt font.
WARNING: If it does not appear you have tried, you will NEVER ESCAPE this phase! You will be doomed to wander the desolate plane of Phase 3 forever.
Phase Four:
Now you will create a way to demonstrate your own Urban Legend. You may use Google Slides, Power Point, or even tell the story while using sound and light effects. The choice is yours.
How will you tell your story? How will you make it memorable?
Now you will create a way to demonstrate your own Urban Legend. You may use Google Slides, Power Point, or even tell the story while using sound and light effects. The choice is yours.
How will you tell your story? How will you make it memorable?