The Most Dangerous Belief

My friends, let's talk:

You are, literally and figuratively, what you consume. Psychologically and intellectually, you are the media you consume.

Most of us are aware that when we eat a 500g bag of hydrogenated corn oil, it's bad for us. We physically feel bad. We feel guilt. It will raise our chances of pathology and disease.

So can we please, please stop consuming media uncritically and pretending it isn't dangerous for us? That it is an accurate representation of reality? Every time we do this, we are making our world a little bit worse. How?

The bubble/feedback effect:

1. We read something that claims to be true, but is actually not 100% factually correct. It is likely from a source we have decided to trust, which is a known logical fallacy: the argument from authority.

2. It fits our biases, so we share it

3. Other people see it, and they believe it is true because they have read it from an "authority"

4. What was once a non-truth becomes our reality because we believe it to be true.

There is absolutely no excuse for not taking time to read things critically. Right now, we have nothing but time. If you're on social media sharing things, then you have time to actually read what you're sharing and critically examine it for any logical fallacies.

Does the article make an unqualified generalization? It's intellectual rubbish. It's bad code for your self-programming.

Does the article have a clickbait title? It's trash.

Does the article try to pass an opinion statement as fact? It's trash.

Does the article seek to incite emotion/outrage? It's trash.

Does the primary source of the article provide sufficient justification? (e.g. "doctor says eating 10 bananas a day will cure the coronavirus!) Yes, it's trash.

Is the primary source of the article known to be biased? (e.g. is it foreign state media? Is it bloomberg? is it fox? is it NBC? Is it CNN) Check it 10x as many times, then, and know that it's trash.

Start by familiarizing yourself with established logical fallacies.

If you have time to be on social media, you have time to use your brain and critically examine information.

And remember, don't believe anything because you trust the person who said it. Don't believe anything I just wrote in this post is true because I wrote it. All people make mistakes and miscalculations. Believe it because you carefully thought about the arguments and evidence I laid out, and then if your brain "clicks" and it makes sense, then believe it. Though the video I linked above doesn't mention it, the greatest and most dangerous logical fallacy is the argument from authority, i.e. not using your brain to determine yourself whether something computes as correct.

Again: you are, literally and figuratively, what you consume. Psychologically and intellectually, you are the media you consume. And the world is comprised of all of our realities.

What kind of world are you creating and reinforcing? Is it the one you want to live in, or is it the one that outrages you?