Misinformation
A meaningless term that technically describes all information by definition.
A word used to insult and dismiss opponents while appearing deferential or empathetic – forgive them lord, for they know not what they do.
Intellectual and rhetorical cheating. If we can successfully categorize a view as misinformation, then we do not have to produce a superior claim of our own, likely because we do not have one.
A political term invoked when our priorities are dictating and controlling thought, language, and knowledge.
No experience has been free of incorrect or misleading information in the history of any living organism. Behaving otherwise is a demonstration of ignorance or deceit. As a result, this term is only invoked when someone is seeking to delegitimize information that challenges an adopted narrative. The protected narrative may not even true, and those who defend it are often aware it is false, but they ignore this otherwise defeating quality because the narrative benefits them. This clearly exemplifies the political nature of the term as the information it is characterizing need only be in opposition to the interests of those who control the narrative; whether it is incorrect or misleading is irrelevant.
Misinformation policies pretend to be indifferent to who you are, and they are exactly the opposite. There can never be a coherent or impartial policy for such a thing because it is built upon a collection of incorrect assumptions about both information and people.
Authors of these policies are aware of this.
See: INFORMATION, DISINFORMATION, MALINFORMATION, NARRATIVE, POLITICS
Posted: 2 Jan 2023
