Have we lost the ability to know the truth?

SeniorBen said:
Some people are too lazy to read the news any more. If it's not in a video, they don't want to look at it.

Some people don't want to be exposed to any facts that don't comport with their world view, so they get their news filtered through websites and news broadcasts that tell them what to believe, who to hate, and what to be outraged over.

For the rest, there are legitimate news outlets, and they're not hard to find.

I've been reading The Guardian for the past few years. It's a British news organization but they have a U.S. version. They're not quite as corporatized as U.S. news media and not run by Wall St.
https://www.theguardian.com/us
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Ben, there are dozens of excellent, unbiased news journalists who make videos. And what's most interesting about their videos is that they record on location all over the world, and talk to the people there, and interview key players.
 

I find that “the truth” is rather nebulous. Very few things in life are totally without exception . That leads to speculation. Inside of every so called conspiracy is some degree of either truth or fiction. Sometimes it is hard to tell them apart.
 

I may not know truth all the time but I do learn who is reliable and who isn't. Everything is slanted a bit. We all have our ways of looking at things.

If somebody tells me something and is willing to listen to other ideas, admit he/she is not perfect, can say he/she is wrong, then they earn some credibility.

If the person is a sanctimonious know-it-all, who is ALWAYS right, I know I am dealing with a jerk.
 
There are more people like me who:

Watch several news broadcasts on TV, all kinds. NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, FOX,BBC, PBS, CSPAN.
Watch on location reporting, straight from the horse's mouth, as it is happening.
Read newspapers, listen to hourly news reports.
Tune in to House of Reps floor speakers, Senate floor votes, federal and state legislation.
Then, I make my own decision regarding politics, and where the US, and the rest of the world, is currently headed.

Not patting myself on the back. Just pointing out there must be more citizens like myself who still have a sliver of common sense. I wish there were more.
 
fuzzybuddy said:
One of the things I find troubling is so much mis/Mal information on the internet, so that we may have lost the ability to know what's true. It's not the internet, but those who deliberately disseminate misinformation via the net.

In the 1950s & 60s, we had the "voice of God" 6:30 PM news reports from NBC, CBS, ABC/BBC. Today, biased opinion masquerades as news. I fear the deliberate effort to create disbelief in government. Not that our government doesn't deserves scrutiny, but calculated disinformation may have sad consequences.????????
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True! There's so much misinformation out there that people don't know what to believe and also it makes everything questionable. It's like there's no such thing as truth anymore, just many points of view and many truths. That's why people believe crazy stuff about the vaccines. People don't believe in religion anymore, they can't trust doctors, and don't trust the media. So many prefer to trust the "little guy" who seems to have no financial gain by saying something. So they trust social media and Tik Tok over what higher ranking people say.
 
Victoria said:
True! There's so much misinformation out there that people don't know what to believe and also it makes everything questionable.
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FWIW, I notice if the source of the information says things like "in my opinion", "this is my best estimate at this time" , "i could be wrong", "others disagree and have some good points", and most importantly "I was wrong when I said blah, blah, blah. I apologize." If I hear those words or similar I know I am dealing with a fairly straight shooter.

OTOH, if all I hear is sanctimonious professions of the absolute truth, no tolerance for those who believe otherwise, and harsh judgements about anybody who disagrees, then I figure misinformation is probably coming at me. Oh, the use of insulting name calling is another warning sign that one is being deceived.
 
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Chet said:
As long as there is freedom of speech, there will be alternative viewpoints and it's up to us to sort out what's true and what isn't.
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Absolutely.

We just have more sources of news, viewpoints, and disinformation than at any time in history. It does get confusing.

I suspect with time people get better at sorting it all out. Probably not in time to alleviate my confusion...
 
I believe none of it anymore. It’s not because I’m a conspiracy theorist either, it’s because I was blessed from the Man Above with good sense and a fantastic BS sensor. Russia Russia, weapons of mass destruction, Covid-19 killed 30 in a Wa. nursing home, Epstein hung himself and blah blah blah. Nope. Even if I’m wrong on one of the four mentioned I’m still batting .750. Lol.
 
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