Dear Fred,
Here is how I go about determining truth.
Background:
I hold a baccalaureate from the University of Toronto with a dual major in Comparative Religions and Latin American Studies. I also hold a Batchelor of Science degree from the State University of New York at Brockport, and a Master of Science degree in Medical Entomology and Human Parasitology from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine.
In large part due to my formation in the arts, humanities and sciences, I believe I am capable of determining which sources don't pass the straight face test.
QAnon is a prime example of a laughable source.
On those vanishingly rare occasions when Q might stumble on the truth, it is not unlike finding a needle in a haystack.
It happens... just like shit does.
When Q accidentally trips on the truth, I recall the fact that "even a broken clock is right twice a day."
Then there is this thorny problem...
If a person reads a good book every two weeks from age 15 to 85, s/he reads 1820 books in an entire lifetime. (Suspense, detection and romance don't count.)
The fact is, precious few people read one book a month from age 15 to 85, making their lifetime total 910.
And if we want to get down to brass tacks, most exceedingly well-educated people only read 500 books in a lifetime, with a more realistic total being 300 to 400. (What good books have you read in the last 30 days?)
Then, we hit this Wall: The Library of Congress has a catalog of over 40 million books.
So, nobody is a know-it-all.
Not even close.
But what we can achieve as well-informed human beings is an acquired ability to learn from people who are known for their judgment; their regard for intellectual rigor and the Scientific Method (the survival and "thrival" of which are all that stand between us and another Dark Age); plus the self-evident virtue/goodness of our trusted sources - kindness being the most reliable indicator of wholeness/holiness.
Cruelty - no matter how cleverly one justifies it - has no place in a life worth living.
Background:
I hold a baccalaureate from the University of Toronto with a dual major in Comparative Religions and Latin American Studies. I also hold a Batchelor of Science degree from the State University of New York at Brockport, and a Master of Science degree in Medical Entomology and Human Parasitology from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine.
In large part due to my formation in the arts, humanities and sciences, I believe I am capable of determining which sources don't pass the straight face test.
QAnon is a prime example of a laughable source.
On those vanishingly rare occasions when Q might stumble on the truth, it is not unlike finding a needle in a haystack.
It happens... just like shit does.
When Q accidentally trips on the truth, I recall the fact that "even a broken clock is right twice a day."
Then there is this thorny problem...
If a person reads a good book every two weeks from age 15 to 85, s/he reads 1820 books in an entire lifetime. (Suspense, detection and romance don't count.)
The fact is, precious few people read one book a month from age 15 to 85, making their lifetime total 910.
And if we want to get down to brass tacks, most exceedingly well-educated people only read 500 books in a lifetime, with a more realistic total being 300 to 400. (What good books have you read in the last 30 days?)
Then, we hit this Wall: The Library of Congress has a catalog of over 40 million books.
So, nobody is a know-it-all.
Not even close.
But what we can achieve as well-informed human beings is an acquired ability to learn from people who are known for their judgment; their regard for intellectual rigor and the Scientific Method (the survival and "thrival" of which are all that stand between us and another Dark Age); plus the self-evident virtue/goodness of our trusted sources - kindness being the most reliable indicator of wholeness/holiness.
Cruelty - no matter how cleverly one justifies it - has no place in a life worth living.
Compendium Of Best "Pax-Barbaria" Posts About Trump-Cult Cruelty
"Cruelty Is The Point": An Update On Donald Trump And His White "Christian" Base
The Monstrous Cruelty Of Family Separation, A Heinous "Crime Against Humanity"
"Family Separation And The Satanic Cruelty Of Most Republicans"
"More Of Trump's Cruelty"
Compendium Of Trump Videos That Reveal His Arrogance, Inhumanity, Stupidity And Cruelty
"Compendium Of Best Pax Posts On Trump, Toxic Christianity And Cruelty As A Moral Obligation"
https://newsfrombarbaria.blogspot.com/2021/07/compendium-of-best-pax-posts-on-trump.html
We must also account for the trolls who abound on "the dark side" - the practiced, profiteering liars, the "cruelists" (not to mention the sadists), the aggressively/evangelically ignorant, the assiduously stupid (and stupefacted), and, of course, the legions of suckers who are born every minute.
Trolls... And The End Of Civilization As We Knew It
When I find myself in the presence of "sources" that deliberately delight in darkness, confusion and cruelty (and Malignant Messiah is the leader of this maleficent mob) I immediately turn to brighter lights - Ivan Illich, Wendell Berry, G.K. Chesterton, Thomas Merton, Jose Ortega y Gasset, Miguel de Unamuno, and Hannah Arendt, Neil Postman, Lao Tzu, Gautama Buddha and Jesus of Galilee (N.B. No study of the 20th century is complete without at least a tip of the hat to Simone Weil, a prototypal anti-fascist.)
"The Original And Enduring Conspiracy"
The Deep State Is Real: Plutocratic, Oligarchic, Unbridled Capitalism
ODDS and SODS
Here is where American conservatives ran off the rails.
"There are two ways of lying, as there are two ways of deceiving customers. If the scale registers 15 ounces, you can say: 'It's a pound.' Your lie will remain relative to an invariable measure of the true. If customers check it, they can see that they are being robbed, and you know by how much you are robbing them: a truth remains as a judge between you. But if the demon induces you to tamper with the scale itself, it is the criterion of the true which is denatured, there is no longer any possible control. And little by little you will forget that you are cheating." Denis de Rougemont
"Unless Truth Is Richly Contextualized, It Is Likely That Uneducated, Ideologically-Driven People (Who Never Learned How To Think In Context), Will Use Fragmented Shards Of Truths To Tell Colossal Lies"
"How Conservatives Use Decontextualized Shards Of Truth To Tell BIG Lies"
"Trump Is A Traitor By Virtue Of Normalizing Falsehood And Teaching Americans To Do The Same"
"Truth Infuriates People Whose Lives Are Lie"
"Trump Lies Shamelessly, Compulsively, Continuously... And His Followers Suck The Sludge"
How do you choose your sources Fred? What litmuses do you use?
***
I will bow out by saying that the best and most satisfying thing I have done in my life is to raise two great blood children, and one great non-blood child.
And thank God for my rock-and-roll bands on both sides of the border.
Music Making With My Mexican And North Carolina Bands: "Túnel Del Tiempo" And "19 Miles From Davis"
Here is my North Carolina band's most recent live recording.
"Jumping Jack Flash" (terminated by rain-induced power outage)
It's only rock and roll, but I like it.
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