People everywhere are joining a mob right now. A torch-carrying mob eager to burn down everything the “media” or “experts” are telling us. But before you tattoo “WOKE AF” across your asscheeks because you distrust media, consider this: whatever alternative information you’re getting from alternative sources is also nothing more than media. The difference is your new media is almost certainly not more credible, more honest or more truthful. It’s alternative for a reason — it’s largely being purported by sensationalists seeking attention with soiled reputations or no credibility. I.e., it’s usually hot garbage. Yum, hot garbage.
So it must be tempting to be allured by YouTube videos like Plandemic or the quack-tastic doctors in California that are offering an opinion people are craving to find. But there’s a reason these clowns are shouting their mendacities (buy a dictionary) from a tiny loudspeaker on YouTube rather than a legitimate source backed by science — you know, science! That thing that makes this internet thingy-majigger even possible. Because I can make a video right now on YouTube that states that Elvis is my step-father. It’s totes real! YouTube University said so!
From a very young age, we are taught to trust the experts and the information outlets that are accredited: textbooks, teachers, doctors, big yellow talking birds, etc. Obviously, it’s fair these days to point out that some of the things we learned did not age as infallible facts. Stuff like the food pyramid, or the “planet” Pluto, or the celebration of Columbus’ “discovery” of America that we learned as children — we’ve matured in our understanding of these teachings. And we’ve adjusted to reflect scientific and historical updates in schools. Knowledge is organic, and it’s constantly evolving.
However, to distrust something simply because it’s espoused by the mainstream media in a free market? That is folly at its freakin’ finest. Every circulated headline, expert testimonial, and piece of evidenced-based science out there simply cannot be a conspiracy. Theoretically, that would essentially render nothing a “conspiracy” — it would simply be an established truth. And that goes against the very essence of the term conspiracy: which by nature, is supposed to be a consealed outlier in media that disguises truth from the masses.
But let’s not dwell on mere semantics. When you boil it down, people have no legitimate reason to trust contrarian mouthpieces over certified experts. Who do you want performing open heart surgery on you? The person with the Ivy League MD hanging on their office wall, or the guy whose claim to fame is 750,208 YouTube followers? If humans cast aside the accumulated knowledge of teachers and scientists, we’d be stumbling around like medieval stooges. We certainly would not have smart phones. We’d be throwing rocks at other rocks to figure out why men have nipples.
We have to trust outlets verified as credible over fringe media rhetoric, and we have to trust those verification sources. If we don’t, we’re essentially admitting that we actually trust nothing, and we’re now simply picking and choosing our own pre-rendered truths. That is an unbelievably irresponsible way to approach knowledge and information in a society. It destroys the very fabric upon which our entire education was built, which ironically would discredit our own ability to make prudent decisions on any matter. I think I just blew my own mind.
If you’re unfamiliar with Occam’s Razor, let me clarify: it states that “entities should not be multiplied without necessity.” Or, as it’s often paraphrased; “the simplest solution is most likely the right one.” More often than not, we’re not being misled by some Illuminati-type overseer (provided we do a little impartial research). It’s not “open-minded” to earnestly consider every preposterous agenda that conflicts with expert testimony. it’s intellectually irresponsible.
But there’s bigger reason people should trust our system of information distribution — to dismiss it at every turn is a step towards anarchy. It’s a dismissal of everything anyone’s ever learned. And most importantly, it’s an indicator of only one thing: that you’re arrogant enough to arbitrarily decide what is true or what is not. And you’re likely just fishing for attention or confirmation-bias for your own preconceived conclusions. And my preconceived conclusion is that Alyssa Milano secretly loves me, but I’m still trying to find media to support that.
Stay objective and neutral, but never completely remove your blinders for unverified bullshit. That isn’t being “woke.” That’s being eager to display you’re suddenly the smartest person in the room by showing off your new shiny piece of unverified bullshit.
Is that who you want to be?