There is so much disinformation flying around today that it is becoming a threat to our form of democracy. Why that is and who is responsible for reigning it in? That is what this post is all about.
Read moreTag: untruth
Always Looking…
I am always looking to add new features and sections here at RJsCorner. Trying to improve everything in my life is what makes it ultimately satisfying. In the same light, trying to hold on to eternal optimism is a BIG challenge given so much of what is happening in the world today.
I have vowed to back away from the ugly world of American politics and I think I have been substantially successful in that endeavor. I don’t want to jettison it entirely as that would be a personal copout to me. I considered adding a topic of “#CO3’s Lie Of Today” but quickly found I would have to spend quite a bit of time studying the daily lies to decide the one that would be posted. Here is an example of that:
I have come to the conclusion that almost without exception when I see something he has said I believe the opposite. The trouble with the idea of “Lie of the day” it that he would have too much attention here.
I wisely decided to scrap this idea, even though it was enticing to actually compile the untruth that comes from this narcissist’s lips. Enough said, let’s get back to something more optimistic for tomorrow’s post.
#CO3 = Current Oval Office Occupant
The Truth And The Untruth Lay On The Same Level.
The title of this post comes from something I recently heard on GPS with Fareed Zakaria. The topic was how the Internet puts things out there with no clear distinction between truth and untruth. If you have the wisdom to discern the difference then the info you gain from instant communications is invaluable to you. If you don’t then it is difficult to decide just what to do with opposing information.
The very heart of this topic lies in the question, how does a person gain wisdom? Besides putting truth and untruth on the same level, the Internet also makes it very easy to only expose yourself to one particular view of the world. We can pick and choose which sources of info we read on a daily basis and never be exposed to anything we might not agree with. That is not the way to gain wisdom but instead to have tunnel vision.
As is the case with most things in life, the Internet has a bright side and a dark side. Nothing is ever totally black or white. I do agree that it was simpler in my youth. If I wanted to know something all I had to do was visit a library and look it up in an encyclopedia. I knew that the info in that document was parsed through many filters to make sure it was valid and truthful. But, since this method of intelligence gathering took hours of work instead of seconds most question were simply left unanswered.
There is a lot of info out there for instant retrieval but much of it contains unfiltered lies and untruth. That fact is especially true when selecting which cable news outlet to view. In another area, it doesn’t cost anyone to set up a blog and post whatever you want. Of course, I am an example of that. Except for vulgarity, there are very few filters around what is posted. Then there is Twitter, where anyone can rant about anything, truthful or not. Of course, that is the primary means of which the current Oval Office occupant puts out his distortions and lies.
I am not old enough to have actually heard any of FDR’s “fireside chats” but I understand that they were very inspiring and upbeat to the millions who listened. Now we have, as one of my Facebook friends pointed out “Trump’s toilet seat tweets”. Somehow I just can’t see anything inspiring about any of them. Most are definitely untruths trying to sit beside truths, but anyone with an IQ over 50 knows at least in their heart what they are.
