To actually try and solve “The Grandmother Problem” I decided to have a talk with my boyfriend. Really, I should’ve chosen my mom or dad, but I wanted a challenge.
My boyfriend believes everything he sees, no matter what. I’m a very passive person, so before now I haven’t really cared. But after this weeks assignment and reading, I decided enough is enough.
A lot of the times he shares small stuff, about celebrities and what not, but a lot of the times it is just blatantly false. This time, however, he shared misinformation about the coronavirus. So the other night when we were just sitting on the couch, I asked him about it. (I tried to find the article again to link it in here, but he deleted it from his page and I cannot find it again).
I asked him, “Did you fact check this source?” and he told me no, he didn’t because he did not feel the need to. So I told him I did it for him, and that what he shared was indeed false, and he needs to be careful what he shares.
He did not like this. For one, he didn’t see what the big deal was about sharing false information. So filled him in on why it’s not okay to do that. He started to get a little bit of an understanding, but I still don’t think he cares.
He also didn’t like that I was trying to “prove him wrong” which was crazy to me. I really was just trying to help him. Spreading false information about something so serious is not okay. I just wanted him to realize that.
After explaining to him that I was not trying to prove him wrong, but just get him to understand, he started to get it. Luckily, it didn’t cause any major fight, and he has gotten over it.
He also has started asking me whether or not an article seems true before he asks it. So, my next task is to now get him to learn how to do that on his own.
