It's impossible to know all things--impossible to grasp every topic, event, idea, and discussion with depth, yet we can all do our part to be informed by reading, watching, and listening to multiple sources of information, and by alining our efforts with organizations that represent what we believe to be right and true. In doing this, we gain some good knowledge, but we still, in many areas, exist in a world of unknowing--there is so much that we don't know.
Many times, people will use this idea of unknowing to tell you to stay quiet, not share your ideas, or stay uninvolved. Critics will try to silence those who may not have a deep understanding, good use of words, or substantial experience, rather than listen to what they have to say and consider their point of view. This will to silence via ridicule and more, in my opinion, harms who we are as a people and what we can do for ourselves and each other. Instead, we have to be open to multiple points of view that range from some knowledge and experience to lots of knowledge and experience.
To embrace many points of view via social media adds extra challenge since the information we get is not always honest, accurate, or well-meaning. Many, from all angles, use social media to manipulate rather than to inform, and as individuals, it is difficult to navigate the comments and decide which come from real people and which come from spammers, hackers, and bots. As I think about this, I realize that as a community of people, we will have to work for better ways to ensure that our channels of communication are truthful, and we'll have to work to better spot bogus, manipulative information.
We'll also have to work at our individual and collective communication skills. How can we better understand the information that exists, and how can better analyze, communicate, discuss, and debate what we know and believe.
The Trump term has truly brought this challenge to light. President Trump and his team lie a lot--their lies have been exposed time and again. Yet, the quantity of the team's lies are so great that it's difficult to keep up with those lies. Trump cronies have reported Trump's Big Lie theory which is if you repeat a lie enough, people will believe it. With Trump at the helm for four years, we've learned that he strives to manipulate us far more than to work with us as citizens of the United States. He is a man who seemingly will do anything to get his way. Many groups that support Trump are similar. We see this when we read articles about bogus social media manipulation.
So what can we do about this?
First, we have to continually work at our own ability to learn the truth and analyze/communicate with honesty, respect, and good evidence. We have to make time to learn from accurate sources of information, and we have to communicate with as much truth and honesty as we can. We also can't be afraid to ask questions so that we can understand the information more.
Next, we have to speak up--if we see harsh and harmful trends of dishonesty, inhumanity, and threat, we have to speak up about that.
And, we have to become involved in greater groups that work for the collective good--groups that elevate our ability to live well with one another.
The Internet age has made information readily available to all of us, and it has also elevated the ways that we can manipulate, misuse, and misunderstand that information too. This is an area of collective life, we have to think about and act towards with greater depth and positive intent. I will think more about this in the days ahead. What do you think?