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…
