Painting by Belynda Wilson Thomas

No human being is constituted to know the truth, the whole truth; and even the best of men must be content with fragments, with partial glimpses, never the full fruition. William Osler

Last night we had our book club meeting by Zoom. It was great most of us read the book but we spent most of our time discussing the changes in our lives. One of our members shared a painting she created from a painting tutorial on YouTube. When we don’t know what to paint YouTube is a great place to go for inspiration and techniques.

Everyone is keeping busy, connecting with people, finding ways to pass the time, learn new things, and enjoying more family time. For some people, this is a harder time because there is still bad news being shared but they are unable to get together for a hug or a cry.

All the things that go on in our lives are still going on. Birthdays still happen but without the big birthday party. Anniversaries still happen but no big fancy dinner in a restaurant. When we get out of our stay-in we will have to be careful we don’t go too crazy.

If we aren’t careful what we watch we can get caught up in the conspiracy theories of the day of which there are many. Nobel Prize winner Richard Thaler and other behavioral economists have shown how the mere provision of more and better facts often lead already polarized groups to become even more polarized in their beliefs.

We need to look at how other people think but research shows that individuals who change groups and opinions constantly may also be less trusted, even among their new peers. Being open-minded may lead people to become outcasts which is uncomfortable at best and can be dangerous to our health if we rely on groups for survival as we did when we lived in hunter-gatherer societies.

In one large experiment, it turned out that both liberals and conservatives actively avoided having conversations with people on the other side of issues such as drug policy, the death penalty, and gun ownership. This was the case even when they were offered a chance of winning money if they discussed it with the other group. Avoiding insights from opposing groups helped people dodge having to criticize their own community.

Truth is mighty and will prevail. There is nothing wrong with this, except that it ain’t so. Mark Twain

It is believed millions of people the world over and by one estimate half of the U.S. population believes in conspiracy theories. Platforms like YouTube and Facebook allow conspiracy theories to go viral. It is hard to not get pulled into some of them.

The problem with condemning conspiracy theories is it plays into the conspiracy theorist’s mind. So, how are we supposed to handle the misinformation, and mistrust that is out there? Much of the conspiracy theories seem to be we are afraid we are not being told the truth for nefarious reasons. People are afraid they will lose their freedoms. They fear they are being told something to make them happy while things are going on without their knowledge.

In January, YouTube announced it would gradually start “reducing recommendations of borderline content and content that could misinform users in harmful ways. Conspiracy theories were part of the targeted content. Some content providers are now complaining about the conspiracy to de-monetize them.

There is probably no good way to deal with conspiracy theories because some like the flat-earthers seem to be a growing movement. They say it’s hard to find a flat-earther who doesn’t also believe most other conspiracies and flat-earth conferences are also a gathering of anti-vaxers, 9/11 truthers and, Illuminati subscribers, to name a few.

They say the truth will set us free, but we seem to be having a hard time knowing what the truth is. It’s hard to believe that the flat-earth society is growing in numbers but they say it is, maybe that’s a conspiracy too?

Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened. Winston Churchill

There is nothing so powerful as truth, and often nothing so strange. Daniel Webster

The truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth. Little men are dissolved in it. If there is any gold. Truth makes it shine more brightly… Truth, even in the mouth of the informer, a spy, a briber, can become bigger than anybody who tries to destroy it. Truth survives. Adel Rogers St. Johns

Thank you for reading this post. I hope you enjoyed it. I hope you will come back and read some more. Have a blessed day filled with gratitude, joy, and love.

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Suspicious Minds: Why We Believe Conspiracy Theories Kindle Edition

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