UNSOLVED
Whom do you trust? A Test
The following has relevence to this forum, so please bear with me. It is a serious test.
After reading the claim below, and the supporting links, please answer just "Yes" or "No" only, without any discussion or reason for your answer. We will reserve that for later, after sufficient replies have been received.
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When confronted with claims or advice in these boards with which we doubt, we often ask for links to support that advice, preferably from a reputable individual or trusted website.
The Claim: The 1911 silent version of the movie "The Poseidon Adventure" was being screened on the Titanic the night it sank.
Supporting valid links to Snopes.com (a trusted hoax/myth debunking site):
http://www.snopes.com/lost/lost.asp
http://www.snopes.com/lost/poseidon.asp
The second Snopes link also references the Internet Movie DataBase (imdb.com, probably the best authority on movies) for info on this movie:
Poseidon Adventure, The (1911)/
As well, literary references are cited at the bottom of this page.
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Now I personally trust both Snopes and imdb as reference websites (this is a true statement, for the benefit of those who don't know these sources, and is not a 'trick' meant to mislead anybody). These links are all perfectly safe, for those who might be worried about that.
The Question: After viewing these references, do you you now believe the original claim?
Just "Yes" or "No" answers, please. No discussion for now.
Alexandra_P
4 Apprentice
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2554 Posts
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Posted September 11th, 2009 21:00
Nope.
OK, Time's Up. Thanks to all who responded.
I'll let Snopes provide its own answer. It gives clues on every link I included in my first post.
Examine the first Snopes link:
http://www.snopes.com/lost/lost.asp
- Read the introduction: "... We created The Repository of Lost Legends (TRoLL for short) for those of you who don't let the truth get in the way of a good story." That alone should have set off a few alarms about what was to follow!
- Now read some of the other claims made, and Snopes' patently absurd replies. (Mr. Ed was a zebra? Gimme a break!)At http://www.snopes.com/lost/poseidon.asp
- Scroll down to the "Additional Information" section
- Click on the icon to the left of More information about this page, where the answer and explanation of the motives for this exercise are given. It is an instructive read. (For those who want to save a few clicks, here is the link: http://www.snopes.com/lost/false.asp )As for the supposed imdb reference link, notice the true URL in your status bar when you hover over Poseidon Adventure, The (1911)/ (or look at the address bar if you open this link). It clearly does not come from the imdb site. This emphasizes the potential dangers of clicking on blinded links without first checking the true http address to where you are being directed. That imdb page looked pretty convincing, didn't it? So do many phishing sites!
Although this exercise was engineered entirely by Snopes, it reminds us that even trusted sites can be spoofed to lead us astray. I have received PM's that these links degrade trust in Snopes. Taken in its entirety, I think otherwise: Snopes has performed a valuable service here, without placing anyone at risk.
I still trust Snopes, but the lesson here is, in the words of Ronald Reagan: "Trust, but verify".
Discussion is now open.
Hi Joe,
What you say is true.
It is also true that 'The Poseidon Adventure' was not written until 1969, by
Paul Gallico, a former sports editor of the NY Daily News.
A movie could hardly have been produced in 1911 if the book from which
it was made was not published until 58 years later.
I am delighted to recall the year because it was the year I split from my wife.
A wonderful year!
arnmh1
Alexandra_P
4 Apprentice
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2554 Posts
156
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Posted September 12th, 2009 13:00
Glad to find out my spidey-sense is in good working order - and the page itself made it easy to confirm my hunch. Have to admit, though, that Red Dawn's response kicked my skepticism up a notch, because I know Red pays attention to this kind of stuff.
Then again, I have no emotional investment in either Snopes' as an "authority" or in whether that particular legend was true or not. I know I certainly believed in the "scissor man" when my mother got fed up with me sticking out my tongue, and she started dialing the phone. Okay, I was 5, but if at the time the web actually existed, and I'd been given the choice between believing some web site and believing my mother, even at that age I'd have known which side my bread was buttered on.
Web advertising popped into my head as something of a corollary - many ads are embedded in such a way as to imply the site or the author of the page specifically endorses the product.
joe53
5 Journeyman
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5772 Posts
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Posted September 11th, 2009 17:00
Not a set-up, hrova, just a test on how and why we trust references ...