The Big Picture

The article “Photography as a Weapon”, exposes the perfect example of how the wrong information could be incredibly dangerous. The article itself uses as an example a doctored photograph of Iranian missles. This article written by Errol Morris presents the following questions about photographs. “Do they provide illustration of a text or an idea of evidence of some underlying reality or both? And if they are evidence, don’t we have to know that the evidence is reliable, that it can be trusted?” So, if photographs can be doctored can they really be counted as reliable evidence? Why wasn’t this doctored photograph caught earlier? What are the far reaching consequences of a tampered document?

The Monks

This hasn’t been the first time that documents have been tampered with. One of the greatest examples of western history are the works of the monks of Europe. When writing down the history of the ancient world they chose only to use the documents that supported what they were already teaching. In a way, doctoring evidence has always been a part of history, and because of that we have a limited knowledge of the ancient world.

The Difference

In today’s society, with the introduction of modern technology, it has become easier and easier to record current events. However, the problem of misinformation still persists. So, why wasn’t it caught earlier is not as important a question as why was it done in the first place. Information of all types can be used as a weapon, and information that is twisted in your favor would lead more people to your cause. However, it could also lead to a wide scale panic and uneccessary violence. That’s the power of information.

~ by graham19 on September 19, 2012 .