Bogus information from internet ‘research’

Earlier this month Scott Adams had a series of three Dilbert cartoons about internet research. First on March 18, 2019 there was one titled Boss Does Research on Internet:

Pointy Haired Boss: I was doing some research on the internet…

Dilbert (thinking): Uh-oh.

Pointy Haired Boss: And I learned that there is a secret CIA base inside the sun, but no one is talking about it.

Dilbert: Maybe you shouldn’t do research on the internet.

Pointy Haired Boss: Why are you afraid of the truth?

I suspect Scott may have been inspired by an old Polish Joke (#65) about sending a spaceship to the sun. They were going to go at night to avoid the extreme heat.

Second on March 19, 2019 there was another titled Humans and Parakeets:

Pointy Haired Boss: I was doing some research on the internet and learned that humans and parakeets can mate and produce offspring.

Employee: I don’t believe that,

Pointy Haired Boss: It’s true. I read about it in a blog.

Employee: I wouldn’t call that “research.”

Pointy Haired Boss: Deny science much?

Third on March 20, 2019 there was yet another titled Birds Cause Hurricanes:

CEO: I don’t know enough about climate change to sound smart when people talk about it.

Pointy Haired Boss: Try doing your own research. That’s how I learned that hurricanes are caused by birds.

CEO: Write that down for me.

Pointy Haired Boss: And did you know polar bears hate snow?

I have seen all sorts of nonsense on the internet. On March 6, 2019 at her SkepDoc web site Harriet Hall had an article titled A surfeit of silliness which began by noting that Jemima Packington (in Bath, England) claimed she could predict the future using asparagus. The only thing you can predict from asparagus is that soon after eating it your urine may smell funny.   

The computer user warning sign was adapted from an image at Openclipart.