Revisiting the "Gell-Mann Amnesia Effect"

[Yooper]

About 5 years ago GURPS posted an article that referenced this "effect." So it's been mentioned here on the forum (at least once).

But it's worth revisiting for a number of reasons (not least of which is that it's interesting). Perhaps something to ponder, too (I try to remind myself of this effect all the time & not fall victim to it; not always successful, if I'm to be honest).

Coined by Michael Crichton (loved his, Eaters of the Dead, btw). Here's his take:

Briefly stated, the Gell-Mann Amnesia effect is as follows. You open the newspaper to an article on some subject you know well. In Murray's case, physics. In mine, show business. You read the article and see the journalist has absolutely no understanding of either the facts or the issues. Often, the article is so wrong it actually presents the story backward—reversing cause and effect. I call these the "wet streets cause rain" stories. Paper's full of them.

In any case, you read with exasperation or amusement the multiple errors in a story, and then turn the page to national or international affairs, and read as if the rest of the newspaper was somehow more accurate about Palestine than the baloney you just read. You turn the page, and forget what you know.

A quote by Michael Crichton

Briefly stated, the Gell-Mann Amnesia effect is as follows. You open the newspaper to an article on some subject you know well. In Murray's case, physics...

www.goodreads.com

Michael Crichton - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

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