Carriers of contagion.
con-ta-gion (noun): a disease that is or may be transmitted by direct or indirect contact; the tendency to spread, as of a doctrine, influence, or emotional state; the spread of a behavior pattern, attitude, or emotion from person to person or group to group through suggestion, propaganda, rumor, or imitation.
American Heritage® Dictionary
Ever wonder how half-baked ideas get traction? Ever wonder who passes along the latest panicky rumor?
I know I have. Especially now, as rumors fly and fears abound.
And as the Internet replaces the mass media, the street corner and the kitchen table as the leading source of rumor and half-baked ideas, I wonder about the faces behind those posts, posts that fervently, feverishly recycle old errors and spread new ones, posts that get it earnestly virulently 180 degrees wrong.
Because these posters invariably "look" normal. They rarely post in caps. Their messages are hardly ever certifiably THE END OF THE WORLD IS NEAR!!! wacko. Their spelling and sentence construction are serviceable, or at least up to the modest standards of the Internet, suggesting that regular Internet users really are as educated as studies say.
Still, we never know who's out there wielding words and throwing ideas against the wall. Is that a slumming Ben Bernanke posting on economic trends incognito, or is it some college freshman showing off a few buzzwords he's gotten out of an Econ 1A textbook? Are we hearing an insider who's been there and done that and, most important, understands what he's been through, or is it some badly spooked nobody?
Faceless anonymity is perhaps the biggest drawback to getting your news, information and thinking off the Internet. Aside from decent spelling and grammar, posters don't give us any of the usual cues we use to judge someone's credibility when face to face. And like any stranger, we don't know their history and baggage, aside from whatever they choose to disclose or fabricate.
So in the dissemination of ideas, the Internet is truly a level playing field. No idea gets turned away. Every poster gets a chance to speak. Everyone is credible, unless they have a dissenting opinion.
But is everyone out there rational? The question bears repeating: is everyone, on the Internet or down the street, rational? Today the question is particularly appropriate, as rumors spread and even understated truths from credible sources sound scary.
A recent experience may throw some light in this dark corner. A neighbor has a roomer who appears extremely credible. He's in his early thirties. He drives a nice car. He has a great job with a major employer. He's been married (and divorced). Before the divorce, he owned his own home. He's active in his church, has a wide circle of family and friends and an enviable social life.
We'll call this paragon of credibility "Roomer".
Roomer is basically a happy-go-lucky guy, but a few days ago he comes home distraught. He tells his landlord, my neighbor, a woman in her 80s with a number of serious health problems including a bad heart, THE END IS NEAR!!! "Our financial system is heading for ruin! We've gotta buy candles and batteries! We need a six months supply of canned food in the garage!"
When I heard this later I asked if he was getting ready for another Great Depression or another 1906 Earthquake.
What's got our normally cheerful Roomer so riled? Dear old Dad, who's apparently decided that today would be a good day to put the fear of God in Roomer. "Gee, thanks, Dad", you might say, but I think I know where he's coming from.
Because Roomer only looks solid. Roomer has the bells and whistles of maturity—nice car, good job, first divorce under his belt—but Roomer is 33 going on 18. As I've heard my neighbor describe this "good boy" over the past year, it's become obvious that Roomer has "issues": commitment "issues", responsibility "issues", maturity "issues". Roomer is the kind of guy who can over-promise and under-deliver and still feel good about himself. Roomer lives for today and figures, if he figures at all, that tomorrow will take care of itself. Not coincidentally, Roomer goes nowhere, slowly. Dad sees this lack of forward progress and thinks Roomer could use a swift kick in the pants, which he applies.
Maybe Dad lays it on a bit thick. Or maybe Dad really does think THE END IS NEAR!!! Or maybe Dad's figured out, like a lot of people and, for that matter, like a lot of institutions and media outlets, that scaring the whee out of people is the best way to grab their attention. Or maybe—and lots of people are like this—he just likes seeing that deer-in-the-headlights look.
But Roomer isn't the most mature or sophisticated consumer of rumor and half-baked ideas, so Roomer panics and over-reacts. Roomer gallops off in several directions at once to alert the countryside.
This time the contagion stops with my neighbor, who laughs off Roomer's hysteria, albeit nervously. She's been through the Great Depression, World War II, the Red Scare, riots in the streets, gas lines and all the other excitement life's served up over the past eighty-plus years. Experience!!! What a wonderful antidote to THE END IS NEAR!!! It takes a lot to get my neighbor upset.
And what a wealth of experience! But she doesn't share it on the Internet. No, she doesn't even own a computer.
But let's say my neighbor isn't eighty-something, but considerably younger. Let's say my neighbor hasn't known Roomer most of his life, and knows in her heart of hearts that Roomer is a semi-decent boy who doesn't feel the need to be more than that. Let's say she doesn't know Roomer at all, except as a plausible voice, in the next cubicle or on the Internet.
Sharing his insights and experience.
I wonder what kind of Internet life Roomer has? Wouldn't it be a panic if Roomer blogged?
"Today I took out the trash and started a panic."