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From: charlie@mica.stat.washington.edu (Charlie Geyer)
Newsgroups: soc.net-people,misc.headlines,misc.misc,news.misc,sci.psychology
Subject: Re: David's Last Wish Hoax Hoax
Message-ID: <1128@entropy.ms.washington.edu>
Date: 17 Dec 88 22:17:25 GMT
References: <4592@homxc.UUCP> <1097@actnyc.UUCP>
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Reply-To: charlie@mica.stat.washington.edu (Charlie Geyer)
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In article <1097@actnyc.UUCP> gcf@actnyc.UUCP (Gordon Fitch) writes:
>In article <4592@homxc.UUCP> rick@homxc.UUCP (R.BUTTAFOGO) writes:
>}There is a young boy ... terminally ill.  His last wish is to be in
>}the Guiness Book of World Records for having received the MOST 
>}Christmas cards EVER.  If anyone would like to take the time to send 
>}David a Christmas card, please mail it to: ....
>
>I think it's one of the more interesting examples of net pathology.  
>At first, these hoax-protest syndromes were spaced about six months 
>apart.  Now, apparently, the cycle time is rapidly becoming shorter
>
>I'm cross-posting this to sci.psychology in the hope that someone
>there can give an explanation and prognosis for the David endemic.

People are so gullible.  Rumors and gossip and silly folklore have
been around ever since humans evolved language.

The news net just speeds up the propagation of such nonsense, it
doesn't make it more accurate.  It is an unfortunate fact that people
tend to believe what they see on a computer even more than they
believe what they see on television.  Perhaps there is some
unconscious notion that the computer is checking news net postings for
accuracy -- just like Geraldo and Oprah check the nonsense on their
shows for accuracy :-)

In most news groups at least 50 per cent of the postings are complete
nonsense, and will be flamed in a few days.

The prognosis is that this will continue to be true.  Why would it
change?