BLURRING OF REALITY
TV and the Internet allow unfounded facts to become reality much quicker and hence a growing problem for educators who try to distinguish myths from reality. In a recent issue of Time magazine, a column referring to 2006 “buzzwords” included a reference to Wikiality. This term refers to “truth based on consensus rather than fact.” Segments of populations have always had the ability to turn opinions and myths into “fact.” It used to be known as Urban Legends.
Today on TV, opinions turn to facts when pundits are given airtime to spew forth streams of opinions in such a rapid and “loud” fashion that viewers believe it to be true. After all, no one can say so much in so little time and it not is the truth, right? And since no one challenged the pundit, it has to be fact. On the Internet, literally millions of “bloggers” are writing stories every day; consequently, if so many people read and repeat them, then it must be true.
The explosion of unfiltered information is blurring the lines of reality. The Daily Show is now the leading source of news for a large segment of today’s youth. The show is about entertainment but the lines between news and comedy are so blurred that many people believe it is honest news reporting that is not part of the conservative establishment. Doesn’t the fact that this show appears on the Comedy Central network give people a clue that it is presented as a fun way to view the news and not a way to learn about the news? Of course it is fun to watch and the people on the show are top shelf, but it is still about news satire.
To make something seem like the truth, the trick is to frame the presentation so it is not possible to refute the content. The skill is in the “wordsmithing” and using the premise that the majority of people listening are under-prepared to deal with the infusion of unfounded facts and opinions in the presentation. If you dictate the rules of the game and change them as you play, you should win.
So-called political or pundit debates are fun to watch because they take on the resemblance of playground arguments. You know how that goes: when the 5-year old runs out of things to say, they resort to “Your dog is ugly.” There’s no way to respond to that because many dogs are ugly in a cute sort of way. Also, keep in mind that most playground arguments are about rules of the game.
So what is a teacher supposed to do to help their students? Create an atmosphere of “healthy skepticism.” Employ the scholarly art of Socratic learning, where questions are asked and asked again until the direction of the dialog is defined. Once there is consensus of what is being said, then the facts can be checked. If you can’t remember anything else, just ask “Why?”
So when someone says that troop “surge” will help gain control over hostile territories, ask “Why?” When the response is to secure American freedom, ask “How?” When an answer is offered, ask “When?” Then ask “Where?” And the final question should always be, “who?” as in “who benefits?”
From birth to age 10 or so, kids are constantly asking questions. They want to learn and they are persistent. As we get older, it seems like there is a notion that asking questions makes us look less intelligent. But the opposite is true: intelligent people ask questions.
People are manipulated not to ask questions because the presenter is concerned about any challenges. How often have you been in room where the person in charge will conclude their comments by asking, “Are there any questions?” and give the audience less than 30 seconds to respond? And the best tactic, the real kiss of death, is, “That’s a good question; let me get back to you on that.”
Teach your students that living in a free society means you have the right to ask questions. And the better prepared you are, the better your questions. The better your questions are, the less chance that you will be duped into accepting opinions for fact.
FINANCIAL
If a person owes $10,000 on a credit card with an 18% interest rate, it will take 40 years to pay it off if only paying the minimum payment of 2% (plus there can be no more additional charges on this card). Is there a better reason to teach students about the perils of credit cards?
GROWTH <> LEADERSHIP <> EXCELLENCE
© 2007 3 Minute Learning LLC
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