We are alive in a very interesting time, and it is becoming more and more difficult to discern what the truth is. We have an unprecedented amount of information in an instant, which is good, but it can be wrought with untruths and misleading meanings. We all form our beliefs of the perceptions that we form and accept as our truth but what I find is that people seem to think that their truth is THE TRUTH. Just because everyone believes in a lie or something that is simply not true, does not make it the truth. Every day I see battles and arguments about what the truth of a presented topic is, however, I only see it as meaningless time spent trying to prove something that most of us have no basis for. I do like an intelligent conversation about options, or presentations about a possible meaning of something presented by someone; however, it seems that most of the conversation streams simply go in circles without any real resolution.
My challenge is this: how can you positively prove anything that you believe to be true? Most of what we believe to be true is only based on things we hear others say, write about or post a video on. My question is how much research have you done to concretely back up what you think is true? I doubt that many people spend the time to dig into the enormous pile of information we now have access to, to ensure that we are not forming our beliefs on emotions. I am an admitted alternative news guy, and I have even posted my share of news from an alternative perspective, but I diligently research my topics as best as I can. This does not make me a saint, but I only state my efforts to bring up the point that we should not base our beliefs on one person’s content. I watch as people jump on information without researching it, then others do the same, and the next thing you know, everybody is talking about this information like it is an absolute fact.
One of the things that I like to do with information that is posted somewhere, is to challenge the person who created the post to prove to me what they believe is true. I usually get words and norms that are being delivered to us, which still are primarily unfounded, which does not prove anything to me. Let’s take the arguments about the reality of what we call home. I see many people debating whether the earth is flat, round, or a simulation, for example, and for all intents and purposes, no one really seems to put anything up that would make me choose a side of this debate. Unless someone who believes strongly in one of these ideas, can take me up in an aircraft or airship, and show me through my own five senses, there is nothing stated that can concretely prove what they are saying.
Let’s look at a simple scenario. Suppose you had a friend of yours tell you that their car was broken into, and things were stolen from inside; you would likely believe this information based on a friendship, but did your friend truly prove to you that this happened. Maybe you went by your friend’s house and saw that one of the windows of the car was shattered and broken, you might then assume that the car was broken into to take things that were inside, but this still is not absolute proof. Maybe someone was mowing their lawn, picked up a rock in the mower, and this rock was hurtled through the window of the car? Maybe someone was bored and simply put a hammer to the window as a random act? Maybe your friend locked his keys inside the car and broke the window to get inside, was embarrassed by this action, and made up a story to hide this action?
What if your friend showed you video footage from his house that showed someone breaking the window and stealing things? I guess that could be proof, the technology that we have today makes it very easy to create or alter media to make it look real. Not that your friend would purposefully deceive you, but I think you get my point here, unless you were there when it happened, you can only form a perception and belief based on what appears to be the truest about the situation. Whatever belief you form about this situation is likely to be passed on to other people you know, and once again, the perception of truth is pushed along the communication chain like playing the telephone game. It is also likely that the information that was passed from person to person managed to get changed slightly each time, so some of the end users of this information have a completely different story and belief about this event.
I feel like we should all be careful how we disseminate information, choose our words properly, and ensure that people understand that we were not firsthand witnesses to what we are sharing. I try hard to ensure that people understand that what I am sharing is my own opinion and formulated belief; I may not always be successful in people picking up on that part of my message, but I always try to put forth a disclaimer about the message I am sharing. Always remember that proof for yourself is going to be different than the required proof for others. I challenge you to ensure that remain leery of what other people share as the truth and do your own research. Also remember that if you were not present for something, you do not have solid proof!!
Stay strong and live your life!!!
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