When All Information Is Misinformation, We Can’t Fix The World
It doesn’t feel like we have access to actual truth anymore
Very Unpopular Strong Opinions Blog by Christyl Rivers
Maybe someone is lying
While the bombing strikes continue to crush Ukraine, peace talks are ongoing.
The January sixth committee is trying to collect evidence about something we saw happen with our own eyes. The words “Stop the Steal,” are not talking about interrupting an order of girl scout cookies. They tell the world that someone wants to say vote numbers don’t count — what counts is that “I say it’s a stolen election — and we will do whatever it takes to declare I am the true president.”
Facts don’t matter. Science doesn’t matter. Numbers don’t matter. Democracy doesn’t matter. Why? because people want to believe “I won the election!!”, because we have bullies, guns, intimidation, violence, Faux news and lots and lots of insistence.
Lots of it!
The world is sick
What about COVID-19? Epidemiologists spent decades studying zoonotic illness, and years studying SARS. I had SARS myself in 2003, and all mutations and variations were well predicted. Yet, all the disinformation costs us time, money, healthcare personnel, and most of all over a million lives.
If you don’t think masks stop pathogens, why do you want surgeons to wear them when they open up your human body? Why has my whole family been flu and cold free for almost three years now, I wonder. Maybe breathing and human contact spreads germs.
What about the facts of history, slavery, race, sexism, and more?
What about having people deny –for the sake of others’ beliefs — that gender identity matters?
We don’t want people to look at that, it may make them uncomfortable.
Culture wars, cancel culture, it all seems to add up to my bias is better than your bias, and let’s not really try to save each other from each other.
Finally, we don’t want to create new green world jobs because monopolistic capitalism has worked out so well for so many of those who make the rules. We don’t want to believe our senses. Fire and smoke is unpleasant, floods bring mold and disease, famine is for losers.
Besides, we are addicted to oil, endless growth, and the idea that Earth is limitless. And/or our faith/optimism/spirit energy/whatever will save us. (just not them.)
The world cannot wake up, much less be “woke” because the world cannot handle the truth.
This one truth, above all else, is the one that keeps me up at night, trying to find sense and, whatever gods there be, in truth itself.
Because if God is not BIG on truth, we have no use for that God.