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
Update: September 22, 2023: This is more important now than ever. Be vigilant and speak in your own way. Love Wins.
In the spirit of how to debunk misinformation and disinformation, I encourage you to examine The Financial Services Forum, The American Accountability Foundation, The Epoch Times, Fox News, and One America Network(OAN), among others, using the media literacy skills taught by the News Literacy Project from #1 above under "How to Debunk." Click on the News Literacy Project link to start your work.
I was recently reminded by a friend of mine who is Buddhist of the Buddhist concept of karma. Karma is important to me in dealing with the authoritarian threat facing us .
As my friend describes it, karma literally means “action.” Actions range from brushing your teeth to directing a missile strike on a children’s hospital, deciding as a batter whether to swing at a pitch or take it, should I drive through the amber signal light or stop, should I direct my armies to invade a sovereign country. These are actions.
Actions have consequences . Those consequences as I understand what my friend explained to me, are determined by whether or not the action is acceptable or unacceptable. Since violence is unacceptable under Buddhist beliefs, the violent deed would be followed by a consequence for the “doer.” The “doer” of the act would be viewed as ignorant, unskilled or hurtful under the tenets of Buddhism. The person or persons responsible would ultimately be held responsible for their deeds. There would be a karmic response, but that response would take place without prior knowledge of when or where or what that response will be.
The Dalai Lama, the titular head of Buddhism, draws a distinction between the deed and the doer. In Christianity this is called separating the sin from the sinner. It is the deed that is unacceptable while the doer is fully accepted and embraced in Love and forgiveness.
What prompted me to seek out my friend was my question: “How would the Dalai Lama respond to the missile attack on the Children’s Hospital in Kiev?” Before providing deeper understanding, I was reminded that the Dalai Lama views China as his friend even though it was the Chinese government that violently forced the Dalai Lama out of Tibet on March 13, 1959. Nevertheless, he treats his enemy (China) as a friend and says: “Hatred (violence) never ends through hatred, but through non-hatred alone does it end.”
I intellectually understand that there is a difference from the deed and the doer or the sin and the sinner. To me, karma should be swift and appropriate to fit the action and it should happen now. How 21st Century of me. I want it and I want it now.
The truth is that justice is patient and thorough and often very slow in coming. That is incredibly unsatisfying for me as a developing human being. I accept it in my heart, but not my head.
The forces that prompt me to unleash verbal tirades at talking heads on a screen come from a place of direct contrast to the teachings of Buddhism which is a belief system that I deeply respect. I am a flawed human being. I accept that and I forgive myself for my faults.
At some point I will learn to forgive Donald Trump, MAGA supporters, the Republican Party, Vladimir Putin, Viktor Orban and a long list of people imposing violence and hate on the world.
In the meantime, this flawed human being will turn to the Dalai Lama for guidance. I believe that the same wisdom can be found in the teachings of Jesus Christ in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It is unfortunate that many modern day Christians have chosen to ignore Christ, a figure that stands in solidarity with those being victimized by violence, hatred and fear. They have instead created a false God and have chosen to follow his words instead. I forgive the Christians that have been led astray. Beliefs can be easily manipulated by unscrupulous demigods. Karma is as karma does.
One form of karma is your vote. Be sure to use this karma. This karma is yours to create. The future of the world is up to us. Each and every one of us.
Karma is not a scientific concept because there is no scientific definition of good and bad. What’s good for the parasitic wasp is bad for the bumblebee it inhabits.
Always wrestled intellectually and perhaps morally with the Christian idea of sin and sinner. Can a ‘ Sinner’ commit the same abhorrent acts over and over, profess to be remorseful, and be forgiven? How is a candidate (not worth naming) able to receive the endorsement of so many Evangelicals, Baptists, and Christians, to a mention a few. It boggles my Catholic childhood mind. Peace!
Bruce, it’s difficult to get the full impact of a tradition with just a few words from me. Let me just shed a little more light.
Buddhism is not a belief system. There is nothing one has to believe. Also, you are not a flawed human; you are a human being. Buddhism does not have all these judgements. The Dalai Lama is not the head of Buddhism; there is no such person. He is the leader of Tibetan Buddhism but has been so well liked and respected, many think of him as the leader of all of Buddhism. Many Buddhists would be offended.
Karma is not good or bad; it just is the result of prior action(s). We don’t control karma or the results of our actions. We act and let go of the results. There is no one meting out karma. It is a natural result of our action(s). There is no one or anything to hold us accountable. We are the owners/heirs of our actions. Justice is not a Buddhist term.
I hope that clarifies and helps. I’m not being critical; just doing my best to clarify. I could be corrected.