Why learning to scratch below the surface is such an important skill
“What is the nature of reality?”
If you asked that question to one hundred different people, you would get one hundred different answers.
Not because there are one hundred different versions of reality (there is only one the last time I checked), but rather because ninety-nine out of those one hundred people have never given it any great deal of thought or research.
The accounts given by the ninety-nine, will most likely be a mix of parental induced tradition, mixed with some parroting from their favorite news outlet, all topped off with a dollop of counsel from their favorite celebrity or societal thought leader.
This phenomenon is only exacerbated by the mushrooming of digital and social media that is now available and growing by the day. Thousands of ideas, thoughts, verdicts, truth claims and trends, overwhelm every waking hour.
But the real killer, is that there is no longer a clear mechanism for discerning which sources are reliable, authoritative and accurate, compared to those who are just people with a platform.
It is for this reason that in 2019 we need to be more skeptical than ever.
Not in a mistrusting way, questioning every little nuance of life. But rather in a way that seeks to understand the key building blocks of life, society and morality.
The overplayed example is of someone who claims that there is no ultimate truth and reality, rather reality is unique to everyone and we each have to find our own truth.
The fact that this in itself is actually a huge claim about the nature of reality, passes far too many people by.
The result of this confusion over reality and truth is very quickly leading society and individuals into a place of confusion, conflict and ultimately despair.
We need to get back to first principals and start rediscovering truth.
Truth is like any other type of treasure, you have to put in some effort and dig for it.
We all need to get better and being skeptical and critical in our thinking.
Statistics, statistics, statistics!
If someone quotes statistics at us, we need to ask for the source, so we can check it out for ourselves.
We need to look at the bigger picture and context from which the statistics are taken.
We need to examine the source of the statistics and look for any indicators of reliability, or lack of for that matter.
Does that study get overwhelming support, or are there other major academics who are questioning the methods?
All that might seem like a lot of work, but a five minute tour of Google, will unearth a lot more that just taking it on face value.
Question, question, question!
If someone claims to have all the answers wrapped up in a bow, don’t let them away with it.
Ask them how they justify that claim? What evidence do they build it on?
So many people showing *the truth *will crumble at the first sign of being asked to justify their position. Many live in online vacuum chambers where all they hear at the same positions and arguments they hold, repeated back to them.
There is no requirement to be nasty or confrontational. All you have to do is ask probing questions.
Channel your inner four year old and ask “But why?”
If you want to find truth and get to the bottom of issues, all you need to do is ask questions.
Truth and reality don’t change. If you keep digging you will find them.
Thanks for reading!
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Agreed! Especially verifying sources of information. Some people get annoyed but in this age of social media and misinformation as well as story inflation, we cannot be too careful.
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