The wonderful thing about Digg? Critical thinking is not required. You can vote for stories based on your personal belief system, not whether they're, say, true. Take, for example, a brief New York Times story about UPS's cost-saving route software. Digg users translated this into a tall tale about UPS saving 3 million gallons of gas by elminating left-hand turns. Computers save the environment! It's a tale that comforts geeks who believe software will fix everything.

It may warm their hearts, but UPS's left-hand turns do nothing to chill the planet. The left-hand turn prohibition at UPS is not news; the shipper has been doing it for years, as part of its regimented efficiency scheme. New York Times writer Bob Tedeschi even wrote about it almost exactly one year ago.

What does that mean? First, that the Times fell for UPS's PR spin, not bothering even to consult the morgue. Second, that Digg users fell for the Times story — and they also didn't bother to consult the site's archive. UPS should be commended for running its operations efficiently. And heck, let's pat UPS PR on the back for confabulating about an existing practice as green business.

But does this really mean that we're not polluting the planet when we order books on Amazon.com and get them shipped to us on a UPS truck? Of course not. Only in the dreamlike fantasy world of Digg is that true.