If not completely fake, it was presented in a way that is biased towards a
particular belief or viewpoint in order to appeal to like-minded people to
rally viewers, listeners and followers.
It seems to me that there’s an agenda behind this type of
information sharing. And it’s not an agenda rooted in truth or honesty, which
frankly, is a danger to the peace and unity of our shared island.
I always have to remind myself to question the context when
I hear such rhetoric that seems one-sided or untrue or improbable. What else is going
on? What happened before or after? What
are the credentials of the presenter, and why should I believe him or her?
What concerns me is whether other people are actually
questioning the things they see and hear. And how many of us run the risk of
just swallowing the information as fact without healthy interrogation to make
sure the full story is told?
We are living in a time of great division and intolerance.
Power seems more than ever to be generated by people and “winning” by
ensuring that others are “losing”. But why can’t everybody win? Life doesn’t
have to be a zero sum game, does it?
In today’s tech-driven world we have unprecedented access to
issues, images, clips, factoids, opinions, facts, news (real or fake). We can
see a picture that somebody wants us to see, negative or positive, but how do
we know if we are getting the whole picture?
What is behind the curtain? We can’t tell what is really happening by looking at one photo or viewing a video clip. We are all susceptible and vulnerable to being swayed by dishonest, misleading, or incomplete snippets.
I always want to ask myself questions about the motives of
others, but I never want to become jaded, distrustful, angry, frustrated,
fearful, or violent.
Pumped up by all the hype, people can start to believe their
neighbour is their enemy simply because they disagree on who has the best team
or what politician they voted for.
It’s all pretty confusing and sometimes overwhelming when we
are trying to cope with all the differing points of view without the confidence
that all the facts are on the table.
So, what do we do? All I know is what works for me. I do my
best not to get sucked in and be influenced by all the noise and fanfare and
the hype. I tell myself to stay true to the values I believe in, and more
importantly, to the universal values of honesty, trust, authenticity, fairness,
reasonableness, acceptance and compassion.
I do my utmost best, not always successfully, not to allow
myself to get steered away from positive emotions.
I choose to be generous, joyful, thankful, curious, peaceful
and loving.
This is just how I try to “Keep it Real”. I’d love to hear
about yours.
