The Threat of Tyranny and Life Priorities

https://newslit.org/

Before you go on, an article in the May 8 & May 22, 2021 issue of Science News ran with a cover "Awash in Deception:  How science can help us avoid being duped by misinformation."  In the lead article titled: "The Battle Against Fake News," Alexandra Witze presents five suggestions on how to debunk bad information.  They come from the News Literacy Project (see the above link).

How to Debunk:

1.  Arm yourself with media literacy skills, at sites such as the News Literacy Project (newslit.org), to better understand how to spot hoax videos and stories.

2.  Don't stigmatize people for holding inaccurate beliefs.  Show empathy and respect, or you're more likely to alienate your audience than successfully share accurate information.

3.  Translate complicated but true ideas into simple messages that are easy to grasp.  Videos, graphics and other visual aids can help.

4.  When possible, once you provide a factual alternative to the misinformation, explain the underlying fallacies (such as cherry- picking information, a common tactic of climate change deniers.

5.  Mobilize when you see misinformation being shared on social media as soon as possible. If you see something, say something.

"Misinformation is any information that is incorrect, whether due to error or fake news.  

"Disinformation is deliberately intended to deceive."

"Propaganda is disinformation with a political agenda."

Sander van der Linden
Social Psychologist
University of Cambridge

Source:  Science News/May 8, 2021 & May 22, 2021

https://singingcyclistmusings.com/?cat=10

As a writer, I view life in two ways.

One. You write about life.

Two. You live life.

The past three plus months have been largely focused on being support staff for my wife as she coordinates and provides care for her 98 year old Mom and Dad and her 93 year old aunt. Her parents live in Assisted Living that is a 10 minute walk away. That’s a positive in that it is easier to provide the necessary care. That’s a negative in that it’s easier to provide the necessary care. Like I said, I’m support staff.

Which means that writing has taken a backseat to life. I’m writing today with one hand as the other hand is attached to an arm that is donating platelets into an Apheresis machine at the Stanford Blood Center. There’s not. much much else I can do at the moment!. My mobility is somewhat limited.

My thought/writing project in recent months has been to write down my beliefs and then seek to rationally justify or defend each one of my nine stated beliefs. I’m still thinking and researching semi-actively, but not writing very much. I’m learning that this project requires more depth of thought and research than I expected.

So, I have put that writing on the back-burner.

What I can’t seem to put on the back-burner is my concern for Democracy and my country. When I started this blog, I wrote a 20-part series based on Dr. Timothy Snyder’s book, “On Tyranny.”

Since Democracy and it’s institutions have been figuratively and sometimes literally in the crosshairs of actual and would-be tyrants since at least 2016, I have been fixated on identifying and sharing my thoughts on the subject here in this blog.

This subject has been , after my family, Priority 1 since 2016. Because it remains a high , if not the highest priority for me right now, I put the 20 posts into a folder or category for you to revisit and linked it in the small shaded block above.

I too am going back to read my own work in order to remind myself how tenuous and how important Democracy is. I urge you to read my posts or read “On Tyranny for yourself.

Peace.