Don’t believe everything you hear.

The other day, Matthew and I were having a conversation about forest animals or something, and the topic of bears came up. I really don’t know exactly how we got there, but it doesn’t matter.

Matthew said to me, “do you know what kind of animal the bear is most closely related to?”

“Umm, no?” I replied.

“You would never guess.” said Matthew.

“Ok, then tell me!”

“Pigs.” Matthew replied, matter-of-factly. “The bear’s closest relative is the PIG!”

I thought on that for about half a second before exclaiming, “That is BULLSHIT! Where did you even hear that?”

Matthew said he’d heard it from a reliable source, and I continued to scoff.

“Puhhh-LEASE.” I rolled my eyes. “Google it. That is a lie straight from the pit of hell.”

So Matthew Googled it (because Google knows all), and after a couple of minutes, a sheepish grin washed across his face.

Needless to say, the bear’s closest relative is NOT the pig. We had a good laugh about it and moved on.

But that conversation got me thinking. The spreading of misinformation is actually one of my BIGGEST pet peeves. I can’t stand when people spout out random tidbits at parties or dinners, etc (whether it be damning information about the president or a celebrity, statistics on global warming, or the simple fact that the bear’s closest relative is the PIG). Call me a skeptic, but I’m always the one who says, “ummm, where did you hear that? Did you fact-check? Or did you just repeat something that your buddy heard from his father who heard it from his co-worker who found it on the Internet?

Email forwards are some of the worst. Have you heard of snopes.com? It’s my favorite website for debunking myths and rumors. Often these rumors spread like wildfire because a) we’re so darn gullible, b) they can seem pretty legit, and c) it’s hard to imagine why anyone would go through the trouble to make some of this stuff up.

There are just so many silly lies in circulation, that you have to be careful what you repeat.

And that is my Saturday soapbox. If I prevent one person from repeating some ridiculous and unsubstantiated claim they heard “from a reliable source,” my work here is done.