"Mark, how did you know any thing before the Internet existed?"

During a debate about the reasons why conspicuous theories are perpetuated and are still prevalent today a first year BA art and design student with a puzzled mixture of bewilderment, arrogance, anxiety and concern asked me how my pre digital generation knew anything before the Internet existed.

This group of very articulate students seemed both highly sceptical of any knowledge from any source yet wanted to believe in unfounded and contentious conspiracy theories. They gave the same credence to a highly qualified structural engineer as a basement blogger. Both sources were seen as ‘opinions’ and both as equally legitimate. Digging deeper into this it seemed that they thought the older generations were too accepting of ‘authority’ and their internet savvy generation were just being more open and more thoughtful.

This worshop will interrogate this paradox of accepting what is on the Internet as all the same yet at the same time distrusting well researched information based on prior experiments or prior knowledge. It will also attempt to answer the question, ‘How did we know anything before the Internet?’

Timetable
Setting up the debate, 'Why do conspiracy theories still exist and what role has the Internet palates in perpetuating them'. The participants will be divided into two opposing debating groups each with an conflicting statement. They will then debate each other's ideas. There will then be a plenary session of 20 minutes to discuss the ideas from the debate.

Interaction
This will be a very hands on session where I will recreate the debate format of the session I had with students. It will become a debating chamber.

Takeaway
A more nuanced understanding of the reasons why students are anxious and yet arrogant about the supply of knowledge in our digital age.

Outcomes
The outcomes of this session will be fed back into UALs digital pedagogical strategy through our Learning and Teaching days. It will also be disseminated on the LCC School of Design Contextual and Theoretical course and unit blogs.

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