Fostering Another Blog

    O ur latest lecture on deepfakes and AI-generated misinformation made me realize how unsteady the ground has become under anything we see online. In past topics, the deception came from people in the moment. Witch accusers, traveling con men, panic-driven reformers. Now the deception comes from a screen, and often there is no human face behind it at all. That is what makes it feel more unsettling. You cannot tell who created the lie, and sometimes even the creator does not know how far it will spread.      The videos we watched showed how realistic deepfakes have become. Faces swapped, voices copied, movements recreated with almost perfect accuracy. I found myself waiting for the “tell,” some obvious flaw that gave it away. Most of the time, there was nothing. The idea that anyone can be placed in a fake video that looks believable is a new level of manipulation. It tricks the part of the brain that trusts visual evidence. It creates doubt where we used to h...

     Our group went around campus with the survey and asked twenty two people in person. Writing down their responses instead of collecting them online changed the entire experience. People were more honest in some moments and completely evasive in others. The mix of awkward pauses, confident answers, and accidental admissions said more about deception than the actual questions did.      The first thing I noticed was how sure everyone was that they could spot a scam. Almost every student claimed they never fall for fake emails or suspicious messages. Then, when we asked how they could tell something was fake, half of them shrugged or guessed. A few said they only know because “it feels off,” which is not a method. It reminded me of how the people in Salem believed they were acting logically while following fear more than evidence.      When we asked about lying, people softened their language instantly. No one said they lie. They said they “a...

  I found this UFO post on Nextdoor and honestly laughed before I even finished reading it. The description alone felt like something out of a sci-fi script. Three giant lights, smaller ones below, meteors flying past at “Mach 3 or 4,” and a hand-drawn sketch that looked like a middle school notebook doodle. You could tell the writer was all in on this moment. They said they had been researching UFOs since they were fifteen and that this was the clearest sighting they had ever had. They even added that they were “not taking anything,” which is usually the first sign that people think you might be. What made it even better was the comment underneath: “How lucky, I saw one when I was younger, but haven't seen one since.” It read like they were talking about a rare bird or a celebrity sighting. It reminded me how quickly belief can attract more belief. One dramatic story invites another. The details do not have to match. The excitement does the work on its own. Looking at the drawing,...

One of the most famous conspiracy theories claims that NASA staged the 1969 Apollo 11 moon landing to secure a win in the Space Race against the Soviet Union. Supporters point to “proof” like the absence of stars in photos, the flag appearing to wave, and shadows that supposedly do not align. The theory gained traction in the 1970s, fueled by post-Watergate mistrust in government and pop culture references such as Capricorn One. In reality, each claim has been thoroughly debunked. The lack of stars is due to camera exposure settings, the flag’s motion is caused by inertia in a vacuum, and the shadows vary because of uneven lunar terrain. Still, the theory endures because it reflects something deeper than skepticism. It shows how people process trust, authority, and evidence in an age where images can be manipulated. The question is not whether NASA lied. It is why so many people wanted to believe it might have.

     Learning about deception this semester has made me think a lot about the two industries I spend most of my time in: selling shoes and finance. Both rely heavily on trust and perception, and both can easily cross the line between persuasion and dishonesty. Watching Paper Moon and learning about scams like catfishing and phishing showed me how belief is often the main currency behind every successful con. It made me realize how often that same pattern shows up in everyday business.      In Paper Moon, Moses does not rely on complicated tricks. He relies on confidence. He reads what people want to believe and gives it to them in just the right way. That is what I see in the sneaker world too. People pay more for what feels rare, not necessarily for what is real. Sellers boost prices by telling stories about exclusivity or nostalgia. Sometimes they post edited photos or vague claims that make the product seem more valuable. The truth is that most buyers ar...

     I had never heard of the “white slavery” panic before this class, which is surprising considering how much it shaped early twentieth-century America. Reading about it and watching clips from Traffic in Souls felt like stepping into a time when fear wore the mask of morality. The idea that thousands of young white women were being kidnapped and forced into prostitution spread through newspapers, churches, and reform groups. Everyone wanted to save someone, but few asked if the danger was real.      The NPR piece and the Reason article showed how the movement was less about protecting women and more about controlling them. Immigration was rising, cities were growing, and traditional gender roles were shifting. The panic became a way to restore order by painting independence as danger. The Mann Act of 1910, supposedly written to fight trafficking, ended up being used to prosecute interracial couples and political dissidents. It is a reminder that moral pa...