Who is the Arbiter of Truth? Or, who are the Arbiters?
We all have our views, blinkered by perspective and coloured by what we read, see, and hear. Who do you trust as truth-teller when it comes to sourcing news? All media have some kind of bias, especially when it comes to religion, politics, power, sport, and any other competitive pursuit that we humans love to engage in and be swayed by. Is there such a thing as objective truth or are all reports tainted by an element of lying and fakery? After all, most news bearers have an agenda, a deep-seated prejudice. Can we trust our governments, our food suppliers, our doctors, our scientists, our lawyers, our priests implicitly? I think not. Before we start railing against pseudo-science and conspiracy theories, a healthy dose of scepticism about all news would be helpful.
Who is your go-to for "the truth"? Do you trust CBC, CNN, Donald Trump, Doug Ford, Confucius, Nietzsche, your government, your psychiatrist, Jordan Peterson, your parents, your sister, Facebook, Google, Yoga, the Bible, the Koran, the Catholic Church, Mormons, Israel, Saudi Arabia, the Hollywood Reporter, Hello Magazine, the Toronto Sun, Wikipedia, WikiLeaks, TruthDig, Dr. Weil, David Suzuki, Rex Murphy, InfoWars, the Guardian, Hezbollah, Daesh, Big Oil, Big Pharma, Bayer Monsanto, Angela Merkel, Bernie Sanders, Vladimir Putin, your local MP? None of the above, some, or all, to some degree?????
We all need to be discerning, and with today's wealth of information out there, we need to be more discerning and sceptical than ever. But freedom of speech and thought are important in upholding our personal and societal liberties. Please do not censor what I read, where my news comes from, and how I formulate my own truth in this world. It is a basic right. I can use my own judgement and so must everybody. If not, then just tune out.
