The Lying Filter – How to Use Yours - Shelly Palmer
▻http://www.shellypalmer.com/2016/04/lying-filter-use
Jefferson in Paris
In the closing paragraph of this note Jefferson asserts, “I never had an opinion in politics or religion which I was afraid to own. A costive reserve on these subjects might have procured me more esteem from some people, but less from myself.”
...
I don’t like to discuss religion or politics in polite company. It’s pointless. Both subjects provoke passionate lectures espousing personal worldviews, and minds are seldom, if ever, changed.
...
Each party has a TV voice: #MSNBC filters hard left, #Fox_News filters hard right and #CNN filters somewhere in the middle (although it is always accused of leaning left). The Interweb (#Twitter, #Facebook, #Blogs, etc.) is clearly useless; it splits precisely along party lines.
None of this is surprising, nor is any of it news. We’ve always had filters – they’re just better now than ever before. As soon as you find something you agree with, you can stop reading; your personal worldview has been validated. But … are the “facts” really facts?
...
Here’s the truly unfortunate part: it is abundantly obvious that the vast majority of people don’t care. Why bother to fact check? If you spend any time reading the millions of words written about the race for the White House, you will quickly realize that politics and religion share a single attribute: they are faith-based.
What is the truth? Whose truth? With whom can you debate and discuss the issues? Where are the facts? What has happened to civil, social discourse?