What do you do if someone publishes incorrect information

Prove it is not allowed.  So guess just ignore, and let others go where ever if they are unaware.  Of course today's truth is often tomorrow's falsehood.

I am the publisher.  

Perhaps what you wish to express is "what do you do if someone posts information I don't agree with?"

And the answer is:  you are always welcome to share your position - which is different from the post you don't agree with.  

I think the best thing to do is present the correct information, outline the source or your experience showing why you believe your information is correct, and let the readers decide.

For instance, you come on a post that says, "the best food for children is McDonald's Big Macs, and if anyone feeds their children anything else, they are harming them".  The improper response is "You're a fucking idiot, and you feeding your kids that shit makes you a freaking moron!"

A better response might be "According to McDonald's own website, Big Macs are loaded with unhealthy Omega-6 fats, monstrous amounts of sodium, and contain almost no vitamins and minerals.  A Big Mac has more calories in it than a child needs in a day according to the US food and drug administration.  Lean meat, fish, fruits and vegetables on the other hand provide..."

Most people will quickly see who made the correct assertion without you ever saying "You are wrong" to the original poster.

Cross posted with Paul...

"Prove it" is rude.

Not acknowledging that provided source material is at least potentially valid is also rude.

I have run into this more than once here. Whatever you're asking, if you can't do so without adhering to the publication standards, it has no place in polite conversation.

As there are many ways to ask a question or express an idea, I think that if the thought isn't being expressed in a way that allows it to pass the publication standards, some more work might go into thoughtful communication.

-CK

Thank you to all.  I have read dozen of books, seen DVD's etc.  So sometimes, ha ha not possible to get exact source, but and often an internet search will help.  Thanks.

Michael Moreken wrote:Thank you to all.  I have read dozen of books, seen DVD's etc.  So sometimes, ha ha not possible to get exact source, but and often an internet search will help.  Thanks.

Here are two possibilities for that scenario.  One, just post your opinion and why you think it is correct.  Two, and this has happened to me in the not-too-distant past.  You find out you're wrong, and the poster actually knew what he was talking about, and what you thought you knew was something that just kept getting passed along as gospel, and no one ever really questioned it.  I actually like that better.  Any time I get an opportunity to learn something, especially if it flies in the face of something I knew, I consider that to be pretty darned awesome.

Sorry, I was unintentionally ambiguous there.

By "having run into this," what I meant was that I am sometimes still asked to rephrase requests for data or clarification of sticking points. I get passionate about things I know, but there is always a better way to communicate a thought than bashing someone over the head with it.

-CK

paul wheaton wrote:I am the publisher.  

Perhaps what you wish to express is "what do you do if someone posts information I don't agree with?"

And the answer is:  you are always welcome to share your position - which is different from the post you don't agree with.  

I was trying to settle the dust, is Buckwheat a nitrogen fixer?  I voted no.  That is too strong.  Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum) is not in the Fabaceae family where beans and peas reside.  I know of other nitrogen fixers that are not in the Fabaceae family I think.  I guess as so please see this article http://www.hort.cornell.edu/bjorkman/lab/buck/guide/soil&fertilizer.php

Most times what someone post is very true for them and their specific local variables.
At other times, there is more than 1 solution to a problem, with the other solution not enough to break customs and argue with your partner/community.

I might say it is perfectly fine to just throw some random food stuff mush in a bucket of water, cover with a lid and then drink that water after it sits there for a few weeks. I know it sounds gross. I did that for my friend and it cured his XYZ,

But that I didn't mention was that I do kefir fermentation nearby and it almost always "accidentally inoculate the wild ferment bucket " and quickly turn my wild fermentation into a healthy probiotic ferment. Another thing that I didn't tell you (because I didn't know this) is that because my friend started to eat this weird ferment, he also made some additional changes to his diet too, and some other lifestyle changes. And it really did heal his health problem.

But I guess there could always be a troll who will say I froze regular tap water with no additive at 50F and at standard pressure. At which point you can just hope that they are just being a troll or bot, and "pray" for them and post something more constructive to the original poster who came asking for help. Or maybe I just walk away and do something more meaningful with my time.

There are many plants that are nitrogen fixing plants that are not legumes.  Seaberry comes to mind.

One thing that I observe frequently on this site, is "armchair experts" trying to correct "the grunt in the field". While the grunt and his family have been feeding the community for millennia, the academics pause their ethereal discussions, to go have lunch in the university restaurant without ever actually realizing that their food comes from the Earth and that grunt was partially responsible, and that grunt might know a good bit more than the academics about growing food.

One time at farmer's market, a professor from the University said to me, "What, are your credentials to be a farmer?" I laughed out loud, spread my arms wide to encompass two tables full of fresh, healthy, better-than-organic, tasty vegetables, and replied, "My resume is spread out on the table in front of you."

I tend to simply avoid having discussions with academics, and proof seekers. I'll just post photos of a table full of vegetables, and let it bother them, that someone that is so wrong, can perpetually produce so much food, using such deprecated methods and germplasm.

I used to fight with wrong information when I was young. These days, I have better things to do.

I can smell bad information from 10 feet away and usually steer away from it immediately. Trying to straighten them churns too much of my precious life time.

Gurkan Yeniceri wrote:I used to fight with wrong information when I was young. These days, I have better things to do.

I can smell bad information from 10 feet away and usually steer away from it immediately. Trying to straighten them churns too much of my precious life time.

I feel exactly the same. I am not jaded, but I have found myself reading, then continuing on to more and more posts without responding.

Like the original poster, I saw a post a few days ago that was really upsetting. I do not think it was meant to be malicious, but my experience as a life-time farmer (at least part time) was such, that I could not possibly see the idea ever working. Worse, people were buying into this which involved significant money.

I started a few posts as a semi-warning to good, honest Permie members, but could not think of a great way to word it without possibly offending someone. In the end I just pointed my cursor to the upper right x on my computer, and left. It is not because I do not care, I do, its just what to do?

Travis Johnson wrote:I started a few posts as a semi-warning to good, honest Permie members, but could not think of a great way to word it without possibly offending someone. In the end I just pointed my cursor to the upper right x on my computer, and left. It is not because I do not care, I do, its just what to do?

I pass on by the vast majority of times, but every now and then I "rise to the bait."  When I do, I have a few rules of thumb.

You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make them drink.  Which ought to mean -- I'm not perfect -- that I lay out my evidence or my arguments and move on.  That will help anybody who's ready to be helped and it won't help the rest, but I did what I could.  

When all I've got is my own experience and introspection, I just say that.  "In my lived experience..."  "It has been my observation..."  "If I were in this circumstance..." and then I tell my anecdote or make my argument.  

If it's a matter of bad information, I usually try to find a decent link.  Sometimes I find out the matter's not so cut and dried and decide to go quietly away.  But usually I make my point with a few words in quotes from the link (nobody follows links).

If it's a matter of bad information backed up by bad links, I'll say a few words from my deep store of opinions and heuristics about how to evaluate the quality of internet information sources.  People in general have terrible skills at this, but the person taken in by shoddy links will never be persuaded that they have been.  This is purely for the audience.  It's possible to do this with perfect politeness and helpfulness, never even mentioning the person who posted the bad link or how wrong wrong wrongity wrong they are.  

Done correctly, I leave the thread in a state where it has the post with the just flat wrong and terrible information, followed by the correct information, followed by a road map that anybody who is confused by the dissonance between those two sets of conflicting information can use to decide which info is more plausible.    

This won't help anybody who comes to the thread with firm predisposition to believe one thing or another, but it should help genuine seekers after truth.  And the reason I'm still at Permies after all these years is that I believe we collect more of those -- and drive away the axe-grinders -- more than just about any other place on the internet.