Today I'm going to take a little detour from my usual psychological ramblings and talk about something a tad bit different. Lets talk about information. More importantly, the truth of it. Where do we get the news from? The Newspaper? The Television? The Internet? You probably do. Now, how do you think this information affects your beliefs and viewpoints on the things in the world around you? What you see and hear has a profound influence on your thoughts and ideas. But we have to remember... the information we get from these sources doesn't always have to be completely factual. Cherry-picking, manipulation, taking only those bits that will stir up a response with the people. These things are here, and very real. So in a world with a vast quantity of information, how can you ever know what is truly valid, and what has some inkling of truth behind it?Well...you really can't. This is when your judgment comes in. Your Judgment is something that should be finely tuned and sharp. But even having that, you might come across ideas that sound ridiculous to you, because they demean your own thoughts. Then you must possess the other element; a very open and flexible mind. Because really, we can never know anything for sure with 100% accuracy. Much of our information and science is still in the stages of educated guesses and theory. But used in the wrong hands, this preliminary information can be used to influence the beliefs of a mass quantity of people. Diseases, Cures, Religion, Climate; an average person only knows and is influenced by what they see on regular media sources for these things.
So I'm really saying something that is common sense already. But it's not enough just to be mistrustful of things. No matter what you see or hear, don't immediately mark it as true. We are bombarded with info, facts, and opinions everyday. But obviously we don't see everything. It is up to us to use our judgment and not take everything at face value.
As usual, I want to hear your thoughts on this, so comment away!
7 comments:
Information is always delivered, it seems, with an agenda. So, it makes one wonder what is information, and what is truth. We can only work our way through everything, and try to determine it.
It's hard though; sometimes I wish there really were some things that I know would always be true without question. But yeah, it's up to us to cut through the muck and get to center of the tootsie roll pop. ... Where did I come up with that o.0
Whoa G, that made no sense... that comment I mean. Cut though the muck to get to the center of the tootsie roll pop? Haha, I think you overthought that one.
Well you see buddy, your actually sane, so you wouldn't understand that hm? :P
Your post is on point. Its always what we do with the information that is brought before us. I alays try to find out if something is really true but that can be difficult because you are relying on other information which can also be untruthful. Our judgments are what we rely on moct about information but sometimes we just have to go by what our mind tells us. The truth is so hard to explain when it comes to information. Great post.
Thanks for the praise! Yeah it's impossible to just put every piece of information you receive through your own personal filter. It's what you actually DO with the information that matters the most. That's why we have to be careful with what we take to heart.
Science is merely a series of measurements that we impose on the reality encompassing us; we live by rules we have made for ourselves.
Information always carries a bias; no matter how hard anyone tries, they are conscious and thus have opinions. Willingly or elsewise they impose their beliefs on everything and anything they say or do.
Your post is dead on.
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