Page 75 of Through Quick and Quinn
…Q
Quick:
The Elephants in the Forum
In the early phase of S&S, Quinn called me out for forgetting our first scrapbook quote. She was right. My attitude sucked. But at least it didn’t take long for my wariness or my negativity to transform into exuberance. I didn’t care about the numbers or statistics, like she did. She needed an objective measure to validate what we were doing, but I didn’t. I didn’t care about the anonymity either. Once the cat was out of the bag, I realized how little it mattered. I didn’t care if people knew my name or didn’t, if they approved of S&S or didn’t. All I knew was that other people were digging. People our age. About topics that mattered. And even though I hadn’t felt “alone” in a long time, it still felt good to know that Quinn and I weren’t the only ones.
Between the hallway chatter and the increased traffic on the forum, it really started to feel like S&S was a movement. When I saw that @annaboo suggested we post a new topic weekly instead of every other week, and then reading how much @tinyburger and @guchiguchigoo loved the idea, my excitement level skyrocketed. It felt like we had arrived. We did it. S&S made it. And if it fell apart the very next day, it would still go down in my book as a total success. Man, that spurred such an invigorating sense of pride.
Quinn, of course, was beside herself when she learned of the request to post weekly. Her jaw hit the floor and she was speechless. For about four seconds. Then the whirlwind of her unfiltered questions, comments, and exclamations hit like a speed round of an automatic weapon loaded with words and phrases. Barely taking any breaths, she went from, “Oh my goodness!” and “Can you believe it?” to “I need to get my notebook!” and “Isn’t this so exciting?” and a dozen others in between. Once again, her energy was infectious and I let the joy rain down on me like a faucet on full blast.
We headed to Mr. E’s room to share in the moment, but as soon as we caught a glimpse of him, we knew he had already read the latest S&S comments. He was grinning from ear to ear and practically hopped over his desk to sprint our way when we walked in. It thrilled him to no end to see this evolution of REED and how many students were engaging in it. Willingly. And enjoying it.
That night, after seeing Mr. E and remembering his passion for critical thinking, a nagging feeling took hold and I couldn’t shake it. Since S&S had taken off and had a pretty solid base, I thought that perhaps it was time to address the elephants in the forum. I wrestled all night with how I would word it, so much so that it completely slipped my mind to run it by Quinn. And I felt so accomplished when I finally finished it in the early morning, that I just posted it right then and there. I realized my error the moment I woke up a few hours later, but I also inherently sensed that Quinn would be cool with it. Because she was the coolest.
And she was. Because she was.
Seek & Speak!
By: Quick and Quinn
Do you ever wonder about the unknowns? About truths?
About lies?
Do you ever hear something and instinctively agree with it? Disagree with it?
Do you ever defend the narrative? Question the narrative?
Do you like to share your opinions? Hear the opinions of others?
If so, then this is the place for you!
THERE ARE ELEPHANTS IN THE FORUM.
Misinformation and Disinformation.
Let’s address them directly and see if we are all on the same page in regard to mis- and dis- info.
* What is the difference between the two?
* How can we combat them?
Suggestions:
* Keep your own confirmation bias in check. Focus on facts.
* Check the source. Check the source’s source.
* Consider the biases of the source.
* Consider what information is included, and what is not.
* Reflect on the tone and emotion of the message.
* Juxtapose the information with that of multiple sources.
* Ponder and examine alternative views and statements.
