5 Ways to manage Information Chaos
Everybody gets so much information all day long that they lose their common sense. — Gertrude Stein
They flood us with a river of information, opinions, and lies. We must learn how to manage this deluge and how to sort the good from the bad in order to remain sane. I am as bad as everyone, perhaps except for teens, I don’t think they ever disconnect (another thing to watch out for — generalizations.) So, the first question is can you control the deluge, and the second is can you find the good from the bad. Or perhaps an easier second question about how you can tell fact from fiction.
The information deluge comes from media outlets. TV, radio, Social Media, Magazines, and Books all contribute to this information deluge. The more time that an announcer has to fill, the less likely you are just getting facts, or if you are lucky, you are getting fact and opinion mixed. The grander and far-reaching the statement, the use of qualifiers like all and everyone, the more likely the statements are false. If someone tells you what you think rather than asking you to explain, they are showing a closed mind.
Only you can control the deluge of information, opinions, and lies. You have heard the phrase “we are what we read.” Let me change that to “We are what information we let into our minds.” So, if you think conspiracy theories are cool and let that information into your brain. If you can’t find any facts, it shouldn’t surprise you, because they do not base many conspiracy theories on facts. They base them on propaganda. Unfortunately, humans, if they are told something often enough, believe it. The biggest example of this is the atrocities of Hitler’s Germany in the Second World War. Another is China’s purge of the 3 million Uighur Muslims in the north by placing them in reeducation camps. Unfortunately, we have our own example, the January 6th insurrection at our capital.
Your 5 ways to Manage your Information
- Hit the “off” button. We don’t have to watch the talking heads on the so-called news talk shows. They are giving you their opinions. They rarely have guests unless they agree with the host’s opinion. If you want to hear others’ opinions, then limit the time you listen. And recognize that these are their opinions and don’t have to be yours.
2. Think. It is up to you to think about what they say and discern fact from opinion and lies. Figure out what to believe. Seldom is everything we hear, wholly right or wrong, black or white. So, question what you hear or see and come to your own conclusions.
3. Find the factual sources and listen to them, not the propagandists. If you listen to another point of view, look for the indicators to determine fact from fiction: all, everyone, they stole the election, everyone who wants to limit certain kinds of guns is trying to take away your 2nd amendment rights, etc.
4. Listen. We have to learn to be better listeners. What is being said? How is it being said? What is the basis for the statement? What is the motivation behind the statement? We especially need to listen carefully to politicians. They forget who elected them and why. We elect them to represent “we the people” not to only do what will get them elected again.
5. Be skeptical. Don’t let yourself be the victim of the propaganda machine. Ask questions. Make your own determination. Remember, our brain is our best friend and our worst enemy. Only you control yourself, not your emotions. Your thoughtful consideration and decisions will win the day.
“Be careful who you choose as your hero or who you choose to deify, be it Clay Aiken or Barack Obama. You put all your hope and all your dreams and all your ideas about stuff into one human being. They’re a human being they’re going to let you down.”
“You can’t make someone your hero because of something you read on the internet. The internet is not a source of information, it is a source of disinformation.” — Craig Ferguson.
