Faux Fu

Saturday, February 24, 2018

"What's the Frequency, Kenneth?!" - REM

We used to work under the premise (maybe it was a delusion), that in a free society, with open debate, we'd all listen to each other, and figure things out. You know, we'd float ideas and the best ideas would stand out, and we'd make decisions based on the best ideas. The best ideas would be obvious and they would win the day.

That premise seems so old world, so quaint, so null and void. Today, we are not engaging in a healthy debate of ideas. No, we are swamped with disinformation, with bad ideas, with Bullshit. Maybe it has always been the case? I don't know. Bullshit engulfs us. A river. An ocean. A universe. Bullshit.

We need a strong Bullshit Detector. But even a battle-tested Bullshit Detector is challenged. It's funny, there are folks who have no shame in spreading lies, hoaxes, disinformation. It has become a game, a business, a politics.

It is sophisticated too. You have to work hard to wade through the Bullshit without losing your head, your bearings, your grounding, your commonsense. 

How best to navigate? Stop. Think. Breathe. Don't just react. Don't get lost in the moment. Keep a level head. There is commonsense somewhere inside us. Yes. There are good ideas. There is a healthy debate going on. We all need to tune into a smarter frequency.

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