The ancient Chinese idiom “Three Men
Make a Tiger” emphasizes a growing fallacy which affects many people in the
past and modern day. Pang Cong, a 5th century B.C. minister in the
warring state of Wei accompanies his prince to ensure a temporary alliance
between the Wei and Zhao dynasty. This alliance is upheld by the exchange of
each states princes being held mutually hostage. In fear of Cong’s political
opponents gossiping and spreading ill word of his position during his
departure; he attempted to appeal his concerns to his king. Pang Cong begins to
address his fears to the king; the conversation appears as follows…
"Your
Majesty, if someone were to tell you that there was a tiger running in the street,
would you believe it?"
"No."
The king replied.
"If
two people were to tell you there was a tiger running in the street, would Your
Majesty believe it? "
"I
might suspect it, " the king said hesitatingly, "but I wouldn't
believe it. "
"What
if three people were to tell you that?"
After
thinking for a while, the king said, "Yes, I would."
Pang
Cong said, "Your Majesty, it is for sure no tiger is running in the
street. But after being told by three people that there was one, you would
believe it was so. Now I'm going to Han Dan (the capital of Zhao) far away from
Da Liang (the capital of Wei). There will certainly be more than three people
speaking ill of me in front of you, and I wish that Your Majesty would give it
your discernment."
The
king said, "Yes, I will."
Despite Pang Cong’s attempts at reaching
out to his king to ignore the political gossip and slander, his ruler would
soon later believe the ignorant comments and negative depictions of him. This
excerpt and its quotations were obtained online through http://www.uchinavisa.com/three-men-make-a-tiger.html.
This Chinese folktale is a true
depiction of the phrase “What everybody says must be true”, this implies if a
rumor or assumption were to be consistently repeated the general public would
soon believe it to be the truth. This fallacy in retrospect can fall into
exigence’s regarding our society today as a country, society, and individuals.
In the modern era a common issue that’s plaguing the internet is the spread of
“Fake News” sources across several forms of social media. On February 3, 2017 a
false claim that the Los Angeles police department would be setting up
checkpoints in hopes of deporting local citizens out of the country illegally.
What continued would later be the creation of massive panic among the public
and community of the Los Angeles area. Within hours of hearing the news,
immigration support groups bombarded the local authorities with questions and
resentment regarding the recent news. More information on this specific issue can be found here at http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-internet-immigration-hoax-20170203-story.html.
Fallacies such as “Three Men Make a
Tiger” are relevant with how our society processes information and ignores
further investigation into statements and other claims by individuals. The Latin
interpretation of this Chinese idiom is the common fallacy which is “Ad
populum” translated as “to the people”; the belief that if a majority of the
public believes in an idea, then naturally it becomes widely accepted as fact
among the commons. This sense of thinking is detrimental to the development of
individuality in a society like today, where nearly everybody is using social
media sites through different medians such as computers, phones, etc. Social
media has developed into a playground for false stories and accusations in
popular topics like politics, religion, and other issues regarding the public.
With technology being more prevalent than ever, it’s important for our society
to teach ourselves and future generations to further identify the dangers of
“Fake News” and rumors that are present within our lives. False claims and
general assumptions of different exigences are the roots for society’s incompetence
to distinguish facts in this technological age.
Sources:
Here are a few extra links that I believe are beneficial to identifying the severity of "Fake News" and how to avoid it.
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