Active consumption of information reverses trends of misinformation

“Be the change you wish to see in the world,” Mahatma Gandhi once said.

Oh, wait. Scratch that. He never actually said it.

This is one of the many popular misquotations that is smacked onto bumper stickers, mugs and pictures of sunsets or white-sand beaches. It’s supposed to be inspirational. It’s supposed to be optimistic and cheery. It’s supposed to speak to your soul and motivate you to achieve goals you’ve only ever dreamed about.

The real quote wouldn’t fit nicely onto a bumper sticker: “If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. … We need not wait to see what others do.”

Doesn’t have the same peppy ring to it, now does it?

Our generation is used to consuming information quickly. If a webpage doesn’t load within a minute, we’re probably going to find something else to do or read. Patience — especially with electronics — is not a virtue we possess. So it’s no surprise that instead of sitting down with “Walden” and seeing if Henry David Thoreau actually said, “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you’ve imagined” (spoiler alert: he didn’t), we’d rather read Sparknotes, buy the motivational mug and say we dabbled in Thoreau in school, but still prefer 

Ralph Waldo Emerson (whom you probably also didn’t read).

But by ignoring the original text, we’re losing nuances of the writers’ work and sometimes missing their points entirely. For example, “Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou, Romeo?” is a quotation many Americans could recite, only most wouldn’t know that “wherefore” does not mean “where,” but “why,” and that Juliet isn’t asking for Romeo’s location, but something much deeper.

Because of the Internet’s dubious credibility regarding quotes and facts, deliberate misquotations have become a trend. for an example, look at the blog “Incorrect Sylvia Plath Quotes,” which features gems such as “Whatever, I’m getting cheese fries” and “How can hip-hop be dead if Wu-Tang is forever?”

As an exaggeration, it’s funny. But when you realize that some people don’t even know who Plath is and are only reblogging the post because they’re die-hard Wu-Tang Clan fans, then it becomes problematic.

As a person deeply invested in literature, it saddens me that great works are being cheapened into catchphrases and bubbly quotes, their artistic nuances cast aside. But on a deeper level, I find it problematic that we don’t question these supposed facts. We accept that Marilyn Monroe said, “Well-behaved women rarely make history,” (she didn’t, it was a Harvard professor) or that, “Nice guys finish last,” (the original quote says that they finish seventh) without double-checking our facts.

It’s not a big deal if your senior quote was more of a paraphrase than an actual quote, but our lack of skepticism has larger ramifications. Critical reading is a skill that we need to bring not only to literature, but to other facets of our life, as well. Take, for example, speeches from our politicians and our newspapers. We can’t trust everything they say or report at face value, and it’s up to us to get the facts for ourselves.

For example, one trending video right now is titled, “The five awkward times experts shut down news anchors by being experts,” because they were either flat-out wrong or asking misleading questions. It’s amusing to watch the news anchors — all of whom work for Fox News — try to regain their footing, but you have to ask yourself: What kind of information are we getting when these experts aren’t around?

We need to question where we get our facts, both in terms of literature and in the broader spectrum, and one of the best ways to do this is to go straight to the source. Once you start reading, you’ll discover that although blood is thicker than water, the quote refers to blood shed on the battlefield and water from the womb, and you’ll learn exactly which promises Obama made and didn’t keep.

Perhaps my favorite political quote of all comes from the tea party. In regard to the endangered species debacle that took place in Florida, Colorado Rep. Michael Coffman said, “Today we can’t ride a manatee, tomorrow we won’t be able to open our own business.” Don’t believe me? Check it out for yourself.

Write to Channing at clk87@pitt.edu.