Hearts and Minds
Misinformation. It’s everywhere. And the only defense is education. If you want to take the easy way out and just consume information without determining the veracity of the source and the information uttered, then you’re setting yourself up to be used and manipulated. It doesn’t matter whether it’s me writing about riding my Vespa in the snow or the President of the United States branding media outlets as fake news. Do the work and educate yourself.
I think about the world my granddaughter Emma will inherit and wonder if the same things I believe to be true today will be when she is my age. I have no crystal ball. What I can do is teach her to be an independent thinker and be skeptical of purveyors of the truth. Especially anyone who wants to date her when she’s older. Or politicians.
Especially politicians.
Having worked on a number of political campaigns I know how self-serving the process is. Truth has little to do with it.
Emma — don’t fall in with the manipulated masses — liberal or conservative, radical or pacifist, they all have an agenda. Make sure you know what line of bullshit they’re peddling.
Free and Easy
Emma posed for a couple pictures in front of a tree in her yard. She likes that tree. And she offered up her “cheese face” — the look you get when you ask her to smile for the camera. As she nears her second birthday she shouldn’t have a care in the world save for experiencing things for the first time, having fun and celebrating life. It’s a free and easy existence that I sometimes think we all secretly long for again.
Misinformation hampers that freedom. A lot of it is intended to generate fear and anxiety and drive power struggles. Misinformation seeks to tell me I’m in danger from terrorists even though my brain reminds me that my vehicle, diet or lightning is more likely to harm me. So watch what information you eat Emma. If it’s coming from the mouth of an elected official don’t trust it until you’ve verified. If you see two people on television debating vaccines — one an actor who has a kid they don’t want to vaccinate, and the other a physician and researcher who has spend most of their life studying vaccines — remember they’re opinions aren’t equivalent just because they’re on the same stage.
Misinformation Emma. It’s everywhere. And education and the willingness to pursue the truth regardless where it leads is the antidote.
But don’t get me started…
How can a person stay away from politics when it influences some of the things that are very important to oneself. I also want the world to be a better place for my grandchildren. I care about the truth also. Thanks for the post Steve.
I think it’s good to stay connected to the political system we’re part of as long as we don’t become unwitting pawns. And the only way that can happen is to educate ourselves on issues beyond the surface, maintain a healthy mistrust of those who govern, and make sure we speak out. Especially at the ballot box. Like you, I want the world to be a better place for my grandchildren. And everyone else’s too.
Steve I believe each of us must speak and act for the values we cherish.
To be silent, to do nothing, is no longer an appropriate way to behave. The risk is too great.
When you hear a lie, speak the truth. Oppose liars.
A fine plan for living in this world.
Your vaccine/doctor example reminds me that I first assume the learned doctor is on the coprporate Pharmaceutical payroll.
I think its called cynicism…
Wide eyed Emma is free of that too…for now
Unlike other researchers, doctors can have a much cozier relationship with pharmaceutical companies. Researchers and scientists at universities and colleges have a much stricter disclosure culture. I know in the agricultural sciences that I have spent most of my life there has always been a perception that we’re in the pocket of big corporate ag — Monsanto, etc. The reality is a very small percentage of support comes from corporations — something around 2 percent. The vast majority of funding for scientific research comes from the public sector — USDA, NIH, NSF, and a host of other government sources. There’s no immediate “profit” in much of the research that builds the collective knowledge so companies aren’t interested. Anyways, I digress.
I’m definitely suspect and cynical. But I try and follow the science and research behind issues to form my opinions. With vaccines, the resistance boggles my mind. As one leading anti vaccer said about the lack of scientific evidence of harm he said something like yeah, but it’s just a matter of time until we do. I know it is bad. If I operated on my gut feelings about stuff or what I don’t like, man, I would never get a shot, go to the dentist, or pay my taxes…
Part of my study curriculum at Penn State in the late 60’s was Turf Management. It was then I ran across a “crop nutrient study group.”
Money was available from mushroom growers, and indeed Pennsylvania has its share.
Penn State was being paid large royalties on chemicals they developed to improve the nutrient potential of Kennett Square horseshit.
The relationship between business and research has not diminished.
My favorite from that time was to discover that Dow supposedly developed a genetic modification to make corn sterile…so farmers were forced to buy seed corn…rather than save a portion of their crop for next season….my cynicism was born then…
When you look at the history of a lot of the agricultural industry in Pennsylvania and beyond you see a lot of Penn State fingerprints. Chemicals, machinery, the whole artificial insemination industry. The research that was done after the war led to a lot of commercialization. It continues today but the innovations appear less spectacular. The genetic modification of crops in the US began in 1973. There is a lot of GM myth surrounding all of this kind of stuff, especially with Monsanto. It’s worth a look to sort out exactly what was happening. We published a story here: http://agsci.psu.edu/magazine/articles/2015/spring-summer/the-science-of-gmos
And another interesting set of myths that NPR explored: http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2012/10/18/163034053/top-five-myths-of-genetically-modified-seeds-busted
Hard to keep up with everything. There is so much incomplete information, dense information, misinformation, confusing information. It’s no wonder that no one trusts anything. Or becomes open to the first thing that sounds like what they want to hear.
Good stuff man thanks for sharing.
Did some work for Monsanto in Idaho a while back…their money spent like any other…lol
70 tomorrow…
It was really warm here today. Keep waiting for the winter hammer to drop though…
I am having a hard time understanding the current political picture. I don’t see how anyone can manipulate people with such unbelievable bombast that is so patently false. It’s all mind boggling.
Hard to say. Perhaps people are just frightened, angry, frustrated. And someone comes along and gives voice to something and they latch on without much evidence. The same happens everywhere in politics — conservative and liberal.
….and religion
I understand.
If you’re looking for some news aggregater sites, I might suggest the following:
http://www.thelibertymill.com
http://www.beforeitsnews.com
http://www.drudgereport.com
http://www.infowars.com
There are MANY more.
Thanks for sharing the links.
Not much news in those aggregator sites. A lot of commentary and opinion telling a person how to interpret news. On the Liberty Mill — I loved the guy talking about those liars at NASA. I could easily see him shifting to the fake moon landing. Or something to do with Area 51.
I realize their process appears to be the same as the mainstream media but it isn’t. The place you see the difference is in reporting of statements by politicians — ones you can see in total on CSPAN. And how perception is manipulated by cutting a 12 second bite and the commentator saying, “Congressman X said blah blah blah.” And then you go to CSPAN and find that he said that, but the bite out of context has a different meaning than what he actually meant. Hard work to track that down though. For me — all those aggregator sites, with the exception of some of the Drudge Report, are in the same category for me as Mad Magazine and the Onion. Or SNL’s Weekend Update. Just a lot of noise out there.
I guess we all see, read and believe what we want for different reasons…
“Not much news in those aggregator sites” Steve? Perhaps for you it all depends on what your definition of news is? My dictionary defines news as a report of news; information not previously known to someone; or something considered interesting enough to be reported.
By those definitions I would certainly have to state that the aggregator sites I listed certainly are FULL of news. Period. For you to say otherwise Steve is ludicrous. As a matter of fact two of the four sites I listed are the two largest english language news sites in all of the global internet, as measured by Google Analytics and other measuring services.
But at least we can agree on the joys of two-wheeling!
Hello Kitty,
Absolutely. The definition is the key. And probably what separates people in their estimation of news, non-news, fake news and propaganda. The dictionary definition doesn’t factor in those other attributed that use or abuse the news.
Did a quick check of Amazon’s Alexa ranking service and there are a lot of news sites ahead of them. Their US rankings of all website traffic: first news site is CNN at #18 followed by #24 NY Times with Breitbart coming in at #31. Washington Post next, then Huffington Post, etc. And those pale in comparison to Yahoo and Google’s news aggregation. Drudgereport comes in at 119 and Infowars at 1696. But with 48 million page views a month that’s still pretty impressive. Or take the news services like AP or Reuters that infect all of the sites but don’t rank alone.
Anyways, none of this really matters. What matters I suppose is what information we choose to accept that will guide our beliefs, choices, opinions and actions. Not sure there is a right choice. Like a lot of preachers who insist they have the one true way, same goes for many media outlets. Some actually say that.
At the end of the day I would rather spend my time thinking about riding than the news…
Educate yourself. Truth.
It’s hard work.
Education may not be the solution.
“People believe what they want to believe”.
That’s the truth. Harvard recently published research that suggested that the more information a person receives that illuminates the error of their thinking does not correct the error but rather only harden their beliefs. That’s scary. But then, who likes to admit they’re wrong. Or worse, risk an important belief.
Very well said!
Thanks. I can see why this kind of topic can generate bad feelings. And why I don’t generally talk about politics. Or religion.
Amen, brother!
Keep riding. Keep thinking.
Just another “amen”. NPR’s Fresh Air is running a story on the McCarthy Blacklist as I read this…seems we go in circles/cycles. Sigh….
Maybe it’s time to re-read some old classics. 1984, Animal Farm, Curious George Rides a Bike…
I read on the Internet that all Vespa riders are….
Good post!
Go ahead, finish that thought…
They’re pointin’ out the “enemy” to keep you deaf and blind
They wanna sap your energy, incarcerate your mind.
Yep, seen it before.
When I think about a truly educated populace, I think of people who are critical thinkers, where the phrase “question authority” was popular. Trouble is, as I’ve long put it, a truly educated populace is a pain in the ass, which is why public education in this country has at best received lip service, and at worst – which would be right about now – been made a lamb ripe for the slaughterhouse. The would-be powers that be do not value an “educated” populace, but rather an obedient one: don’t ask too many questions, Or Else. If there’s one thing that can keep me up some nights (not all, thankfully), it’s this.
On a much lighter note: Emma is simply adorable here! (Both serious and ultra-smiley.)
Maybe Dire Straits had special insight…
The definition of an “educated populace” is hard to pin down. And like you say, harder to control. Fear has worked well since 9/11. And the government was able to take control of a lot of stuff because of it. I always chuckle at conversations about the good old days and what the framers of our constitution would want. They were pretty damn skeptical of government and the people in it. They would not be thrilled with how things have been going for the past 35 years or so. And they definitely didn’t trust “the people” enough to invest direct control in them. Hence the pretty cool checks and balances we have. And they enshrined a free press — which back then was a wild one — as a part of our country free to call bullshit whenever and however they want. It’s amazing to watch things play out. Everyday I get home and open Google news to see what excitement has unfolded…