Well, another year is upon us.
For many, it will be a chance for a new beginning. For others, it will be continuing the same-old, same-old. And either approach is fine, on a personal level.
But on a societal level, we need to make changes. And, sadly, we know that a lot of us don’t like change.
But where do we need to see changes? Let’s start with the war against the truth. There is so much misinformation out there and disagreement about what is real and what isn’t, that dangerous actions are being taken (or not being taken). We need to strive to find out the facts and not be taken in by convenient explanations that fit with our worldview. Be aware that what you’re hearing from people you admire may not be true and they may be deliberately misleading you.
Now, that’s a nebulous statement that can easily be applied to any belief or point of view. All you need to do is track down the source. Yes, you’ll have to do the work but when you find out where something comes from, you’ll be more able to assess whether it’s true or not.
Be skeptical, yes, but don’t just be skeptical because you don’t like the source. And, conversely, don’t be accepting just because you like the source. In the end, just be aware of the possibility that the information you are getting might be wrong. The possibility – just consider the possibility – it might be wrong. Keep that in mind and you are less likely to be taken in by falsehoods.
They say there are two sides to every story, well, that’s not actually true, there’s one side to every story. One side is true but there are two perceptions of what is the truth. Getting agreement on the truth is the challenge.
And it’s going to get difficult do that in the age of AI (artificial intelligence) and CHATgpt but what’s important through this process is we retain our humanity. Disagreement is rife in our society these days and we need to be able to tolerate other points of view. Right now people are more concerned about being “right” than tolerant. Tolerance of others is at a low point, perhaps the lowest point ever. We all need to pull back from that point and take a breath.