Recently, NFL-coach-turned-NBC sports commentator Tony Dungy apologized for spreading a story that turned out to be an online legend, that some American schools were installing litter boxes in their bathrooms to accommodate students who identify as “Furries.” “Furries” refers to people who identify as animals, sometimes dressing and acting like them. 

I appreciate that Dungy admitted he was misled and owned up to spreading fake news, but the most interesting part of this story is that it was believable, highly believable in fact. In just 20 years, the idea of Furries went from an example on the television show CSI in “Sin City” to tons of TikTok videos and public appearances. It was the lengths to which schools have gone to affirm other previously unthinkable identities that made the litterbox story believable. 

Ideas have consequences. When a society is unmoored from any enduring truth about reality, what starts as a punchline quickly becomes plausible.