Gell-Mann Amnesia, Without the Amnesia

I’m completely baffled by what has happened in the United States over the last decade. Whenever I read a news story about something I know well - startups, venture capital, or AI - I immediately see the posturing, positioning, spin, misdirection, and deceit. Some of it is sloppy reporting. A lot of it is someone with an agenda who got their version of the story printed. And this is just the news. I expect everyone reading this knows the next level down of the misinformation and deceit, which are endlessly created and amplified by social media, blogs, and newsletters. Michael Crichton came up with the idea of Gell-Mann Amnesia. You read an article about something you know, notice it’s wrong, and then turn the page to a story about something you don’t know and believe it. I don’t seem to have the amnesia part. If the stories I can check are full of bullshit, I assume the ones I can’t check are too. That leaves me with a lot of narratives, tons of bullshit, endless skepticism, and not…