My parents’ generation would say, “Don’t believe anything you read and only half of what you see.” That is probably more appropriate today given the capability of the internet to influence the human mind.
Humans are susceptible to a good story and there are those among us who use that fact to both entertain and to persuade. It is that power of persuasion that has been our undoing as we all can be fooled or tricked into believing things that end up being a trap, a mind trap.
Grifters, telemarketers, and cult leaders use the same tool which is appealing to our human emotions. Their game is to make us feel, among other things, accepted, safe, guilty, or fearful. They use storytelling to convince us of a lie for their own selfish purposes. The internet and other forms of media have taken the fanciful and forged it into a scalpel that carefully removes trust without us being aware that it is gone. Poof! We are still standing there in trust and they are enjoying the illusion.
How do we know if something is the truth? Not all stories are going to begin with, “Once upon a time”. We use the same critical thinking skills we relied on before the onslaught of the web. Consider the source, consider the information, and consider your emotions.
Lastly, just because we really feel aligned with our information source doesn’t mean we must be in agreement 100% of the time. If your emotions are trying to get your attention, give them space to talk. Just beware that the old trickster that lurks inside, that thing we call the ego is also there trying to get your attention.
Somehow the way we have managed information for eons has served us well or our species wouldn’t be alive today. Or maybe we are just getting around to paying the piper. But I always go back to one thought, if we don’t figure out how to cooperate and develop trust for one another, all the storytelling in the world may become a moot point. Nature is so much more honest in what it has to say. When it speaks we can believe everything we see and all that we hear.
“Without communication, there is no relationship. Without respect, there is no love. Without trust, there is no reason to continue.”
–Notsalmon
Featured photo by: randy-jacob-A1HC8M5DCQc-unsplash.jpg