World Wide Web

The Internet is connecting humans in ways that were never possible before. A network of near-instantaneous communication that provides a virtual fount of information for everyone. Unfortunately, it has also become a source of deception and lies, lending irony to the poetic phrase from Sir Walter Scott:

"Oh, what a tangled web we weave
When first we practise to deceive!"

While he was referring to a different kind of web, the parallels are hard to ignore. Hundreds of years ago, it was common knowledge that a lie could travel far and wide before the truth left the starting blocks. Originally carried by word-of-mouth, the speed with which lies are spread was gradually accelerated by the invention of the printing press, the telegraph, the telephone, the radio, the television, the Internet, and (currently) the smartphone.

Where, once upon a time, the arrival of new information was an infrequent event, it has become a non-stop tsunami that is nearly impossible to ignore. Every bit of it, of course, is of earth-shattering importance (otherwise it wouldn't get your attention). With 7-1/2 billion people in the World, there is always something truly bizarre happening somewhere to someone. And, if it's not really bizarre enough, well then, just make something up.

After all, no one can tell the difference anymore.