We all have certain issues - social, political and moral - that we feel strongly about.
Chances are that our opinions on those issues were in large part formed by our life
experiences. But we also form opinions based on information that we get from
different forms of media - books, television, radio, newspapers and the Internet.
No matter which form(s) of media we choose to inform ourselves, there are always
inherent biases. Authors have motives other than profit for writing books. Newspapers
and radio and television stations are usually owned by larger corporations with
political and economic agendas of their own. Anyone with an opinion can
anonymously express it to the whole world via the Internet, with little or no regard
for the truth or the real identity of the source.
In today's fast-paced, technologically advanced society, faster and more convenient
doesn't necessarily mean accurate or true. There is a saying among computer
programmers, "garbage in, garbage out", and as consumers, we are all familiar with
the phrase 'caveat emptor', which means 'let the buyer beware'. We are all ultimately
responsible for the quality of what we consume and how we use it, and that
includes information.
How much time and effort do you invest in learning about issues that are important
to you? How confident are you in the accuracy of the information that you learn? How
would you know if it wasn't accurate? If you discovered information that you were
confident was true but contradicted your opinion, would you modify your opinion
or try to find some fault with it and cling to your belief?
Chances are that our opinions on those issues were in large part formed by our life
experiences. But we also form opinions based on information that we get from
different forms of media - books, television, radio, newspapers and the Internet.
No matter which form(s) of media we choose to inform ourselves, there are always
inherent biases. Authors have motives other than profit for writing books. Newspapers
and radio and television stations are usually owned by larger corporations with
political and economic agendas of their own. Anyone with an opinion can
anonymously express it to the whole world via the Internet, with little or no regard
for the truth or the real identity of the source.
In today's fast-paced, technologically advanced society, faster and more convenient
doesn't necessarily mean accurate or true. There is a saying among computer
programmers, "garbage in, garbage out", and as consumers, we are all familiar with
the phrase 'caveat emptor', which means 'let the buyer beware'. We are all ultimately
responsible for the quality of what we consume and how we use it, and that
includes information.
How much time and effort do you invest in learning about issues that are important
to you? How confident are you in the accuracy of the information that you learn? How
would you know if it wasn't accurate? If you discovered information that you were
confident was true but contradicted your opinion, would you modify your opinion
or try to find some fault with it and cling to your belief?
Krys
Posts
5 comments:
Hi Krys
I don't watch cable news channels anymore. There are two of them that are very biased. They report half truths or one sided stories. They have let politics get in the way. I get most of my news from the internet. If I think the story might me full of half truths, I research. I love to research things, so that doesn't bother me.
I would modify my belief of something if I found out that what I belived was wrong.
BJ,
I can't say I blame you. The main inspiration for this blog was the health care reform issue, which I won't debate here. I have been following it since Obama took office and the longer it dragged out and the more complicated it became, the more people on both sides were spouting 'facts' and figures that I just knew couldn't -all- be true. So I got to wondering where these 'facts' and figures came from. After a lot of research from as many sources as I could stand, I concluded that there are three sides to every issue: Side 1, Side 2, and the truth. Brilliant, huh? Kudos for being open to the possibility of changing your opinion on an issue. I know a lot of people that would go the other way try to discredit the facts.
I'm with BJ. We don't have news anymore. We have tabloid journalism and the likes of old news legends are probably spinning in their graves.
Krys,
There are so many conflicting statements regarding every issue out there, sometimes I feel as though my head is spinning.
If I was wrong, completely wrong, I'd be open minded to the truth. But sometimes...ignorance is bliss.
SIS Barb aka Elle J Rossi
Hi Krys,
I can hardly stand to watch the news. It's usually depressing and as Tori said, full of tabloid journalism.
I think you're right about the three sides to every story. Of course people will usually only speak about the facts that make their side look good. They won't point out the negatives.
I read something a couple weeks ago saying that even just one Diet Coke a day could cause you to have a metabolic disorder. They blamed it on the caramel color and also that consuming artificial sweeteners could cause you to have more of a "sweet tooth". Then they said you should drink sparkling water instead.
I started wondering who did these studies and just how true these statements were. I figured it was probably the sparkling water companies trying to sell more of their product. Who knows...
Anyway, I wish things were just reported as factual as possible. And if I found out I was really wrong about something, I guess I would have to accept the truth. Sometimes I'd just rather wander through my days not knowing.
SIS Bren
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