Why the Information You Get Online Is Always Wrong
It’s not a bug, it’s a feature. A feature of your own brain.
Ever scroll through your feed and feel like you’re getting dumber? You read a headline, skim an article, watch a 30-second clip, and walk away with a head full of strong opinions but very little actual knowledge.
It’s not an accident. The entire information ecosystem is designed to produce this outcome. It’s not some grand conspiracy by shadowy figures; it’s a conspiracy between algorithms and our own basic human psychology. We are wired to crave strong arguments and controversy, and the internet is more than happy to serve us an all-you-can-eat buffet.
What we end up with are two types of statements that inevitably float to the top of the information sludge.
1. Opinion Stated as Inarguable Fact
"Pineapples do not belong on pizza." "The Cybertruck is an objectively ugly car." "That movie is a masterpiece, and if you disagree, you don't understand cinema."
These declarations are irresistible. There is no room for nuance, only for agreement or opposition. It forces you to chime in, to defend your honor, to join a tribe. Are you a pineapple-on-pizza person or not? The statement becomes a battlefield, and the engagement metrics go through the roof.
Unless you have visual design credentials and the mathematical proofs for the Golden Ratio to back you up, your take on the Cybertruck is an opinion. But framing it as a fact is a psychological hack. It makes the conversation salacious and easy. You don’t have to think, you just have to react. The algorithm sees this flurry of activity—the likes, the angry comments, the shares—and concludes, "This is vital information!" It then pushes it to the top of everyone's feed.
2. Gray Issues Described in Black and White
The second, more insidious category is the oversimplification of complex human problems. How do you make money, find happiness, learn an instrument, or get in shape? These are deeply personal, complicated journeys that depend on thousands of variables.
But online, they become:
"The 5 Morning Habits of All Billionaires."
"This One Weird Trick Will Unlock Your Happiness."
"Learn Guitar in 30 Days With This Simple Method."
We click because our brains are fundamentally lazy. We crave cognitive ease. A one-size-fits-all solution is infinitely more appealing than a 400-page book on economic theory or a nuanced discussion about developmental psychology.
Is this just crummy people taking advantage of us? Not really. It’s us. It’s our own brains, wired for shortcuts, pushing this content to the forefront. We vote with our clicks, and we overwhelmingly vote for the simple lie over the complex truth. Good, nuanced information exists online, but it’s quiet, detailed, and requires effort. It isn't nearly as much fun as the viral stuff, which is almost definitionally inaccurate or incomplete.
What About Long-Form? The Podcast Problem.
"Fine," you say, "that applies to articles and short-form video. But I listen to three-hour podcasts."
Podcasts suffer from both sides of the problem. Over the course of a long conversation, intellectual fatigue sets in for both the hosts and the audience. To keep things moving, they paint with increasingly broad brushes. Nuance is the first casualty. Sweeping generalizations are made, logical fallacies are smeared over complex topics, and by the end, everyone feels like they’ve explored an issue in-depth when all they’ve really done is reinforce their own biases in an echo chamber.
So How Do We Find the Truth?
If the system is designed to mislead us, what’s the way out?
First, you have to accept that there are no shortcuts. The same part of your brain that wants a "7-Day Ab Workout" also wants a "3-Step Guide to Truth." It doesn't exist.
You have to know what truth even is. Sorry, but you’re going to need to get some religion (or philosophy).
This doesn't mean you have to subscribe to a specific dogma. It means you need to do the hard work of building your own internal framework. Know what you believe and why you believe it. Understand your first principles. Where do you come from, and what values did that instill in you?
Once you have this foundation, you have buckets to sift through the mud. When a new piece of information comes at you, you don't have to take it at face value. You can place it in a bucket. Does it align with your core principles? Does it contradict them? Is it a well-reasoned argument, or is it just intellectual fast food designed to trigger an emotional reaction?
This framework doesn't make you right all the time. But it gives you a fighting chance to sniff out the crap.
The difficulty in finding truth today is not a random failure of the system. It is a core feature of how we consume information and the psychology that drives it.
-RCM