Where to Find Facts

By Alan

Many people talk about being able to find "the truth." They embark on great journeys of discovery across geographic distances. Many talk about the climb of Mount Everest to be a journey for truth. Often it's an attempt to find out about themselves, not about the world around them.

Answers aren't always the same as truth. And, facts aren't always enough of the truth. Anyone who has witnessed courtroom hearings or even viewed fictional court drama know it's possible to use facts selectively to mislead through innuendo, tone of voice, and even ridicule to generate a larger lie.

Where do you look to check on facts? How do you know if a fact you currently hold in your possession is actually true?

We've mentioned the big search engines, such as Google and Yahoo!, and the new player in the game: Bing. Lists of opinion don't equal facts, and lists of unchecked facts are certainly not always true. In fact, when you have those facts on the Internet, you'll need to check on them more than ever.

Here's where fact checking sites start to come in. My favorite is www.snopes.com. This low key website has been the center of online urban myths for nearly 15 years (an eternity on the Internet). Barbara and David P. Mikkelson used to frequent online newsgroups trying to find out the real stories behind urban legends and folklore. They started collecting those stories and the real stories behind them, and have continued with an enormous library of fact checking results. There was a great article on them in the The National Review Online. The amazing thing is that they pursue these facts themselves. They were also interviewed on CNN.

As they state on their FAQ:

Q: Who creates the material for this site?

A: With very few exceptions, all of the material on this site is prepared by the same people who operate this site, Barbara and David Mikkelson.

Q: How do I know the information you've presented is accurate?

A: We don't expect anyone to accept us as the ultimate authority on any topic. Unlike the plethora of anonymous individuals who create and send the unsigned, unsourced e-mail messages that are forwarded all over the Internet, we show our work. The research materials we've used in the preparation of any particular page are listed in the bibliography displayed at the bottom of that page so that readers who wish to verify the validity of our information may check those sources for themselves.

This is extremely important. It makes no sense to have someone state "This is factual" unless they present information that helps you believe them. Otherwise, this just becomes another set of facts that need to be verified.

Often questions about facts will arise during shared TV watching. At this point, there isn't any single website that is more useful for information about films, filmstars, and TV shows than The Internet Movie Database or simply imdb.  You want to know when Ben-Hur was filmed, it's easy. Wait. Which Ben-Hur? There were FOUR of them? Okay. How many films did John Wayne do together with Maureen O'Hara? This helps you find it, but isn't a a straightforward answer (even though you have plenty of facts).

Another great example of fact checking that has existed long before the Internet is Cecil Adams, writer of The Straight Dope, a column that has appeared in the Chicago Reader since February, 1973. Yes. 36 years of fact checking. Very entertaining, as well.

We can't overlook the facts presented by authorities on facts, such as The CIA or Guiness World Book of Records.

However, like all facts, fact authorities can also be fact spinmeisters. We can't alway determine if a presenter of facts is doing so with an objective motive. The aptly named "factchecker.org" spends it's existence trying to check on facts stated by U.S. Politicians in their speeches and publications. However, it's difficult to navigate the political waters without getting tainted results.

The bottom line? Facts need to be checked, cross-checked, filed, buried, forgotten, found, restored, and rehashed, and proven before you can firmly believe in them. However, just like in real life, you can find the sources you trust, and you stick with them.

Update on Tuesday, June 9, 2009 at 3:32PM by MAD21

[Editor's Note: Here is another good article about Snopes from Reader's Digest.]