PSA: I tried to fact check a 'deep state' video for a friend and it totally backfired

So my buddy sent me this wild video about some secret government program, you know the type. I figured I'd be helpful and spent like two hours digging into it, finding the original news clips they cut up and checking the dates on the documents they showed. I laid it all out in a text, showing how the timeline didn't match and the quotes were taken out of context. I sent it over feeling pretty good, lol. He just wrote back 'Thanks for proving how good they are at covering their tracks.' I was stunned. The more proof I gave, the more it just fed into the idea of a bigger cover-up. It taught me that when someone's mind is made up, throwing straight facts at them can sometimes make them dig in harder. Has anyone else had a fact-checking attempt blow up in their face like that? What do you even do next?

3 comments

3 Comments

adams821mo agoMost Upvoted

Ever try to fix a wobbly table by pushing down on one corner, only to make the whole thing rock harder? That's what this feels like. I had a similar thing happen with a family member and a weird medical claim they saw online. I found the actual study, showed them the part that said the exact opposite of what the video claimed, and they just said the scientists were probably paid off. It's like you're handing them a tool and they immediately use it to tighten the bolts on their own side. Makes you want to just walk away, honestly.

rowanp151mo ago

That whole "tighten the bolts on their own side" thing is spot on. But is it worth getting that worked up about? Most of this stuff is just noise. Your friend isn't going to change the world with his video, and you aren't going to change his mind with your facts. So you both just get stressed for nothing. Maybe the real move is to just let it go and talk about something you both actually enjoy.

the_ben29d ago

My uncle stopped coming to Thanksgiving over a political argument in 2016. The family just split the holiday after that. That's the real cost nobody talks about. It's not about winning a single talk, it's about whether you want a relationship in five years. Letting it go isn't about being right or wrong, it's about choosing the person over the point. Sometimes you have to decide what's more important, the connection or being correct.