Fake News and the Search for Truth  You see that? That's what I get when I go out and leave the fiction writers to their own devices. Last week, I gave them a video prompt involving that woman, and within 24 hours, FWR had got her arrested. You see what I put up with.
I thought FWR's photoshop (utterly brilliant, by the way) was a good visual aid for this week's theme: dealing with Fake News, which throws up roadblocks on the way to truth.
About a million years ago – I exaggerate, as usual, it was only almost fifty – my biology professor explained on the first day of class that university professors faced a dilemma. They were on a search for truth: university trustees wanted them to make the university into a factory for producing doctors, lawyers, accountants, and whatnot. So he proposed to help students on their way to these remunerative professions, while surreptitiously engaging in the search for truth. Was this an effective lecture? I remember it almost fifty years later, now, don't I?
Here at h2g2, we are more or less covertly embarked on a collective search for truth. Part of the time, we mask this search as the collection of 'facts' about Life, the Universe, and Everything. If that was all we did, the Edited Guide would look a lot more like W*k*p*d**. When we're not explaining to the world the significance of Garfield telephones on beaches, we're also photographing, scribbling, sketching, videoing, and imagining. Here are some of the truths we discovered for this week.
It is true that...
- ...when you got up this morning, you didn't anticipate reading the word 'fishoid' on the internet. Now you have. See what Willem knows about them.
- ...h2g2 photographers have a sharp eye for the unusual, the striking, the intriguing, and the absurd.
- ...it is dangerous to say anything at all to those lunatics over in the Daydream Journal. Somehow, Cactuscafé hit upon the phrase 'the windwolves of Worthington'. The next thing the Editor knew, the Post Office inbox was filling rapidly. The result? This week begins the Worthington series by Freewayriding. It's scifi/fantasy, folks. You'll like it. You are also invited to enjoy Paigetheoracle's new series 'Synaesthesia'. We don't know where he's going with this one, and we can't wait to find out.
- ...everybody around here talks about poetry, but nobody does anything about it. Which is why Professor Animal Chaos and Paulh have sent more our way. It's our fault for putting up that Cheshire Cat last week.
- ...Awix takes the long view of cinema. That's why he's able to compare this year's on-screen madness with ventures of the past. Find out what he thinks about the current flying elephant.
- ...old stories mingle well with new ones. Take time to rethink what you know.
- ...words and pictures together can make you laugh and think at the same time. Don't miss any of the comics and cartoons. Willem's is stunning, Sasha's is true-to-life, and Paige's is indescribable. Mine are just snarky.
- ...a combination of quizzes, challenges, and visual, auditory, and intellectual surprises is good for what ails you. So read the whole Post. Leave comments where indicated.
And have a great week!
Dmitri Gheorgheni
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