It can seem–sometimes very visibly and brutally–that we are losing the ability to make and influence decisions about our own lives. That no matter what we do and what we want, forces greater than us and our families and even our communities will steamroll us in order to impose someone else’s will–and that generally means greater power and greater wealth for a set of politicians and billionaire CEOs.
A chief tool of these politicians and CEOs is fear. They and their organizations use fear to make us stressed and anxious so that we will give up and knuckle under to their demands–demands which then continually expand and are never satisfied. They push fear to make you act in the ways that they want.
Some say (often on social media and to sell you something) that you can control your destiny entirely by the decisions that you make. To some extent that may be partially true, but everyday we see the effects of violence and legal, economic, and cultural systems that have been and are, frankly, stacked against certain people–usually people with little power (the old, the sick, the poor, the very young, people with a different skin color, from certain countries, with different religions, and on and on). These forces are barriers which can prevent many of us from controlling our lives.
But inside this morass still remains a certain independence. The ability to live, as much as possible, free of the fear and stress continually pushed upon us by certain politicians and CEOs and the information ecosystem that these people have created and control (think X, Facebook, and unfortunately much more).
Knowledge can help you break free.
Yes, it may sound trite. But knowledge can bring understanding. More fully understanding an issue (be it immigration, health care, abortion, border security, taxation, tariffs, climate change, authoritarianism, global conflicts, legal disputes, etc., etc.)–all its angles and perspectives–tends to reduce the fear and anxiety about that issue. It is not understanding an issue, lacking information about an issue (and those who use fear also usually try to control the information) that causes the stress, the anxiety, and the fear–the fear of the unknown.
Make an effort to better understand the issues that are important in your life. You don’t have to be immersed in everything; in fact, “living inside the news” (Oliver Burkeman) is not helpful for getting things done or even just staying sane.
Remember that the truth is often complex; be skeptical of simple “sound bite” answers. The big issues that affect millions are very hard to solve, and any true solution is usually a compromise. A compromise that no one may really like. As Oscar Wilde said “the truth is rarely pure and never simple.”
So, make the effort to gain knowledge and understand, reduce the fear and anxiety, set your own value on information important to your life; make your own decisions–do not let others (be they authoritarian or power-hungry leaders, an influencer on social media, etc.) make important decisions for you!
To gain understanding, to reduce fear, to make your own decisions, try these guidelines —
Seek information, not affirmation: understand the algorithm-driven thought bubble of social media and AI; social media and AI can surround you with people and bots (who may seem like real people) who seem to share many of your opinions. That may seem comforting, but true understanding of an issue usually requires breaking that bubble and going outside your comfort zone. Don’t get all your news from social media!
Source + Motivation = Value: always go to the original source of the information, if you can. And that may be very hard if you let social media and AI (run by big tech and media corporations) rule your life and control where you seek news and information! Think about the context in which that information was produced; what was the motivation of the people who ultimately created that information–commercial, political, religious, etc.? In seeking and thinking about context, you can decide for yourself the real value of that information–the value to you.
Dig deeper–do not rely on just one source of information: in order to truly understand, look for real evidence that supports and contradicts a finding, an analysis, an assertion. Seek opinions other than your own. This may be very hard and very uncomfortable to do. Again, you may have to resist the stranglehold of big tech-driven social media and AI. AI is especially good at creating fakes (it could be videos, text, images) that appear to be “real.” But they are not. Do your best to find evidence not generated through AI and social media or produced by people or organizations with a strong motive to deceive.
See a list of questions to help you think about the value of information important to your life.
Questions? Please let me know (engelk@grinnell.edu).
This is an update to a post that originally appeared on November 15, 2018.
See also:
Phubbing: psychology, harms, and more — more fallout from technology addiction
AI, social media, the Internet and how we experience the world; what is real? what are the impacts?
