Truth – the body of real things, events and facts.
Finding the truth. No small feat at any time but especially in a time when the information flow is like a firehose with no filter. We could try to rely on “official” fact gatherers and keepers such as federal government agencies like the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics in addition to the other agencies for state and various local jurisdictions, way too numerous to try and count or list. There are also then the too numerous to count research institutions, non-profits and others that have their sets of numbers.
We also then have the same problem with information in general, way too many sources presenting the information they feel is relevant to their mission.
But frankly who has the time to sort through all this.
We then end up relying on others to help with the finding the truth. As M. Neil Browne and Stuart M. Keeley state in their book “Asking the Right Questions – A Guide to Critical Thinking”,“we have been dismayed by the degree to which students and citizens in general increasingly depend on “experts”, textbook writers, teachers, lawyers, politicians, journalists, and TV commentators. As the complexity of the world seems to increase at an alarming rate, there is a greater tendency to become passive absorbers of information, uncritically accepting what is seen and heard”. Browne and Keeley continue by stating “if we must depend on experts, how do we select from among the crowd of experts, each telling us he or she knows best?.” Their solution is critical thinking in that “it provides a set of filters that expert opinion needs to get through before your can rely on it”.
More on critical thinking in the next blog.