How do you keep informed? Friends and family have shared their information, reading, and video, and podcast sources with me. My usual sources are online news from Apple, New York Times, Huffington Post, Atlantic Magazine, , Free Inquiry, BBC,and Times Magazine. My radio news is NPR, I sometimes watch PBS news.I then get curious and dive into the internet to find information concerning various subjects of interest. Others rely more on podcasts and other news sources. YouTube finds can be very informative. Some friends like The Wall Street news and Fox News, Bloomberg, various financial sources of information also come to mind. I receive suggestions to read from other sources such as Imprimis (publication from Hillsdale College). I do look for recommended books and read both fiction and other books on a variety of subjects. I've learned a lot reading from various sources about quantum physics and astronomy and the universe now more revealed with the newer tools we have that in part gives us glimpses of much earlier times in its evolution. Recently I've become interested in books by Philip Dick and Octavia Butler masters of dystopian science fiction. I will read about our economic, social, and historical heritages to try to keep perspective such as Caste by Isabel Wilkerson a recent gem though hard to read because of the reality of our human cruelty.
So in truth am I more informed? Sometimes I think so other times I clearly am lost in the woods though convinced of my location! My fall back solution is to be open to being wrong and in error since I'm convinced that being wrong is such a good learning opportunity once I'm open to explore for greater clarity. Dialogue with others stating my opinions and sharing my supporting information is a wonderful method to step aside and learn and truly gain some wisdom. Poetry, well written literature, songs and words in music and art in our galleries, TV, bill boards and walls, can show us new information not easily described in words. Then there is music so rich and varied.
Censorship by government and social forces I resist yet I do have family and friends who support these blinders giving their reasons sometimes. Lately I came across some deepening concerns that our sources of information, entertainment, and comfort in these information arenas are presented to us for our consumption solely to keep us wedded to these sources.
Example comes straight out of Daniel Boorstin's book
Image. As you're aware Dominion Voting Systems 1.6 billion dollar lawsuit against Fox News. The evidence so far that is so damaging for Fox News is that their news administrators and celebrities were well aware that Trumps contention that he won the last presidential election and Biden was an illegitimate confirmed president was patently false but if they showed this true opinion on their news sources they would lose readership, prestige, ratings, money, etc. so they lied outright to keep their readership. What I wrote seems to me more than fairly accurate but here's a link (
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/13/opinion/tucker-carlson-murdoch-fox.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare). Since I'm now delving into a potentially polarizing subject I'll go further to suggest Rupert Murdoch and his organizations have been practicing this approach in their media empires including The Wall Street Journal etc. Recently a friend has been sharing Imprimis a publication of Hillsdale College and associated with The Federalist a very right wing political group. Here's the preamble of what Wikipedia wrote about this group "
The Federalist is an American conservative online magazine and podcast that covers politics, policy, culture, and religion, and publishes a newsletter.[1][2][3][4] The site was co-founded by Ben Domenech and Sean Davis and launched in September 2013.[4]During the COVID-19 pandemic, The Federalist published many pieces that contained false information, pseudoscience, and contradictions or misrepresentations of the recommendations of public health authorities.[5][6][7] While ballots were being counted in the 2020 United States presidential election, The Federalist made false claims that there had been large-scale election fraud.[8][9]" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Federalist_(website)
The latest article of Imprimis headline is The Twitter Files Reveal an Existential Threat! If you just read this article Elon Musk is described as a freedom of information hero and the Twitter Files ten articles are an expose against the Democratic Party, the FBI interference and influence in media companies, and Biden's attempts to shield his son Hunter. There are no footnotes or references so your left with an article which is very misleading and untrue. I suggest you do your own research into this controversy. Here's some suggested sources.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter_Biden_laptop_controversy
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/04/elon-musk-twitter-free-speech-matt-taibbi-substack/673698/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitter_Files
To round out my opinions concerning Elon Musk's motivations and false information leads there is this recent article of his hubris. https://apple.news/AUiu8oLTLShitsvMHXykSEQ
So am I at all on the right track or am I lost in the woods? Can we at least agree that we have our favorite sources of information and these sources cater to our appetites. Some of these sources make up fiction and purvey it as fact. We therefore are influenced by made up stories that appeal to our comfort and nature. My recent forays into understanding our artificial intelligence sources reinforce the made up portion of looking for truth in AI. If you push AI it falls down a rabbit hole. If you argue with a true believer their responses sometimes devolves the participants in a deep rabbit hole!
My writing brings me to my personal realities. The other day I went on a hike with a hiking group adventuring deep into Wahiawa Hills. After 1.5 miles they went to a ridge that I visited over one year ago which is very challenging and potentially dangerous. Down a muddy ridge and ravine and up the other side to the top requiring a rope assist along a narrow ridgeline with a ridge crossover steep down and up other other side with no vegetation but a narrow path and very steep drops offs on both side. Over one year ago I did it exhilarated once on the secure connecting ridge but Wednesday I turned back. I continue to hike with a left foot ankle to knee metal brace, two hiking poles, and iron cleats attached to my boots. I have peripheral neuropathy so am unsteady on walking upright without strong visual clues and my equipment. I have nitroglycerin pills in case of a heart attack. My pacemaker works so far well. My stamina is remarkably O.K. but I've promised my wife I will not take risks beyond my tolerances and abilities and this trail may be a great challenge. Also I promised I would not trail hike alone unless on a well traveled path so somewhat disappointed but smiling I walked back having a three mile walk in the woods. So body wear and tear, aging, and limitations are present yet I'm game and looking forward to the next adventure except I now cannot venture into high altitude and somewhat sketchy terrain depending on my invincibility as I did on the past.
Do other people have other issues and challenges that may lead them into quandary of making decisions and searching for answers sometimes from influencers with manipulative agendas? Well I immediately delete and report as junk messages on my Iphone alerting me to give them personal information. Junk calls get the same greeting. Scammers abound looking for their mark (Bye the way we just watched again The Sting a great movie). Are you influenced and an innocent mark?
Well watch this movie and your troubles will lessen.
https://www.amazon.com/100-Year-Old-Man-Climbed-Window-Disappeared/dp/B0142KK0FI/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3BQ2QU8SI596M&keywords=100+year+old+man+who+climbed&qid=1681483319&s=instant-video&sprefix=100+year+%2Cinstant-video%2C197&sr=1-1
Leonard
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