2 questions that make you instantly smarter and more in tune with reality
After reading a silly number of books about writing. Here are two questions to ask yourself to bypass 95% of the reading list
Accidentally teaching media literacy online is not what I had on my bingo cards, but since we’re here… Let’s get the most bang for our buck in the next 5 minutes.
Here are the two questions you need to start asking yourself as you consume ANY content on the internet, at the movies, reading the news, watching adverts. Literally anything.
IS THIS TRUE?
Ask yourself if what you are watching is true. Ask yourself if the information that you are consuming is correct. Yes, I meant to write that twice.
As you’re watching these TikTok videos, you know the ones. Featuring people in dentist outfits selling you teeth whitening strips, with “Commission paid” labels at the bottom. IS THIS TRUE?
Is this a real person telling me a real truth?
Or when they tell you that you’re going to miss out on the deal of the month if you don’t buy now, pause. And ask - is that true?
When you’re told that the green juice will get rid of your bloating - pause - is that true? Is this supplement really going to fix your entire diet? Just consider the information you are consuming and its validity.
When you are watching the news, and it’s discussing literally ANYTHING, and you’re starting to feel anger, annoyance, angst… Just pause. Reflect on the information they are passing on. Is it true? Is it a complete picture of reality? Are they selecting some parts to tell you and leaving out others?
A deliberate partial truth that misleads the reader is still not the truth.
WHO BENEFITS FROM ME BELIEVING THIS?
Let’s say you decide that this man is a dentist. And these teeth whitening strips are the quickest way to pearly whites.
Who is going to benefit from this belief? And are you going to be lining someone’s pockets with your next move? If so, strongly reconsider your next move. Or at least sleep on it.
Or when you’re watching the news and a man with a British accent tells the viewers that the issue is “Complex”… IS that true? And if it is complex… Who is going to benefit from you believing that it is a complex issue?
Will you believing that lead to a little bit of action-paralysis and ultimate dismissal of the issue? If so, who will benefit from that?
Or when you are listening to a podcast interview with a scientist who miraculously finds that their product or their book is the missing link between you and amazing health… who’s going to benefit from your newfound knowledge of balancing your glucose by eating your food in a different order?
Who is going to benefit from this being knowledge that now lives in your head and heart?
There is a science to making you believe things
There are books, lectures, studies, white papers, and conventions teaching people the best new ways to manipulate you into believing or thinking something. It’s been happening all around us.
These two questions are the simplest way I could think of, so you’re armed with a couple of extra steps before you adopt someone else’s creation of the reality around you.
And hey, I’m only teaching you as I learn it…
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