We are the information we get

It's pretty clear that in addition to our personal background and education, our opinions are formed by what we read, watch and listen to. The problem of course is how do we decide what's not a waste of our time, is not just exploitative or driven by fads, is sound, intelligent and offers balanced views on a particular issue. Another way to express this is to ask ourselves, are we capable of thinking critically? Self-interest, honesty, ideology, education and culture without a doubt play a huge role on the way we think. In the past, propaganda, ideology popular culture and religion were effective at blunting objectivity.

Today, they've been in large part replaced by the political “spin” and the modern PR machinery that has seeped into our lives. It becomes quite clear that only those folks who have a huge dose of objectivity, curiosity and open-mindedness can think clearly in the increasingly complicated world we're living in... I'm not even touching on some re-enforcements that consist of the friends we have and the associations or church we belong to. Soon, we'll explore approaches that can help us remain alert, skeptical and always on the lookout for misinformation...