| > Most "facts" aren't provable in the mathematical sense. Mathematics is not applicable to reality by itself. Math can be a tool among others to deal with truths and lies, but it is useless by itself. > Fake news and false rumors are as old as humanity. They are not a problem that needs to be solved Why do you think so? Firstly there is a non sequitur: from "X is old and was not a problem" doesn't follow that "X is not a problem now". Burning coal was not a problem, but it is a big problem now. Secondly, why do you think that they are not a problem to solve? There are agents that weaponize rumors and fake news. I see no obvious ways to reason, that they will fail inevitably, that we need just wait and watch how they will fail. But if you see a way to prove it (in any meaning of a proof, not necessarily in mathematical one), I'd like to hear it. > we certainly don't need governments or media executives acting as arbiters of truth. Are you proposing a radical change on how a democracy works? Any democracy has courts that act as arbiters of truths. Democracy cannot exist without these arbiters. Democracy has parliaments, congresses and suchlike to decide on what is a best way to tackle the current problems. These authorities are also acting as arbiters of truth in some sense. I believe you want to say, that we cannot trust governments to run uncontrolled, and yes, we cannot. But the problem of limiting powers of governments is an old problem, it has solutions in some specific cases. So now we need to figure out how to control fake news without giving governments too many powers. It will not be easy, but we cannot say it is impossible before we tried. |