There are so many things in our lives that constantly cause stress. We live in a world inundated with messages of fear and a constant barrage of misinformation by lobby groups and corporate powers. It's often hard to know what's real, or if we can get through the haze, what to do about what's real.
Like mushrooms, we are all kept in the dark and fed BS every day but it doesn't have to be like this. We can't fix everything, but we can make small steps each day. We can make ourselves into happy mushrooms. I'm starting this blog to try to reach out to like-minded people, to join forces and hope to support each other on this journey of self-improvement.
There are a lot of things I want to talk about. The environment, sustainability, politics, diet, health, exercise and more. As the saying goes Rome wasn't built in a day and the point of this whole blog is not to be overwhelming. So if you're up for reading about a guy trying to make the world better with small steps, a little at a time, please subscribe below.
“The point of modern propaganda isn't only to misinform or push an agenda. It is to exhaust your critical thinking, to annihilate truth.” - Garry Kasparov
Seeing through the clutter
The first step is to stop and make sure that we are worrying about the right things. Misinformation is rife and it is insidiously hard to separate objective truth from paid spin or deliberate misinformation. With the growth of social media, fake information can spread faster than ever before. It is important that we know how to find the truth and look for all sides of an argument before letting something trigger your emotional responses.
1) Take a beat
Before getting emotional or forwarding a tweet take the time to consider what you've read
Understand the goals of the author before deciding to get involved.
Breathe. Confirm its real before wasting emotional energy on it.
2) Consider if the author is trying to manipulate a response.
If the author is asking for money (this one seems obvious)
If the author wants you to amplify the story (usually done by tugging your emotions or playing to your prejudices)
3) Check the facts.
Review the sources of the original poster (dig deeper)
Check the credentials and motivations of the posters and supporters (not all opinions are equal)
Are important facts being left out (usually indicative of a biased agenda)
Over time, are the fundamental arguments changing (this is often a sign that the poster is ideologically opposed rather than making logical arguments)
Next steps?
Arm ourselves with the right tools. There are a lot of information sites about how to assess the accuracy of articles you come across. I've made an effort to talk about issues with my children that seem controversial. Misinformation will become more and more prevalent and arming them with the tools to fight it is key for their future.
Here is a list of websites that I found useful on the topic.
How disinformation hacks your brain - Scientific American
The future of truth and misinformation online - Pew Research Centre
There are also a number of books on facts, scientific thinking and statistics that I found interesting.
Factfulness by Hans Rosling. An interesting read about the importance of using real data to make decisions (and the issues of making decisions without them).
The Art of Statistics (learning from data) by David Spiegelhalter. Discusses the guidelines to leverage big data effectively. A slow read but very powerful tools in here. My tip is to try it as an e-book while you are on the move.
Debunk it! by John Grant. A revised edition that provides real tools to combat misinformation. An easier read than the others and an important resource for late teens to prepare them for the digital future.
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