Too much Information!
Hi friends!
Let’s talk about information, correct information. Exciting stuff, right? Just bear with me, I promise it will be worth your time.
We live in a world where information is literally at your fingertips. Between social media, advancements in AI, and your politically passionate aunt Janet, you’ve probably got more “information” than you know what to do with. On top of that, most of the information you’re getting probably contradicts something else you’ve heard. So, what do you do, and why should you care?
You will normally come to believe something based on the following factors: perception, reason, memory, and testimony. Perception is how you observe the world around you and is most likely how your aunt Janet came to believe that birds are spies for the Russian government (on the record, that is entirely untrue). Reason involves connecting your own observations and logic to come to a consensus. Your memory is also necessary to sort out your perceptions and make connections between data points. Lastly, testimony is when you accept the perception, reason, and memory of another. Typically, these testimonies come from people you believe to have authority. This could be a religious leader, a parent, a scientist, etc.
Because you get information in so many ways, it is vital that you become intentional learners. So, what does it mean to be an intentional learner? It means that you take responsibility to do proper research, turn to reliable sources, and most of all, be a skeptic. Yes, you heard that right. I want you to be a skeptical learner. To clarify, skepticism and cynicism are NOT the same thing. Being skeptical means that you are willing to question information as to avoid deception. Cynics simply disregard the existence of humanity.
As you approach learning with a desire to know the truth, rather than being content with the most convenient answer, we unlock a level of deep, intentional learning. Too many people claim authority who simply don’t have it. If you take every piece of information thrown at you at face value, you are bound to take in false information.
So why does this matter? Let me give you an example. I’m currently taking a class at my university called Family Relations. In this class, we talk about research that has been done on the family unit. We discuss important topics such as family dynamics, cultural diversity, gender and identity, communication, and many others. This week, we have been discussing the 2005 APA Brief used in the supreme court decision to legalize same-sex marriage in 2015.
If you are unfamiliar with this case, it began with two men from California who wanted to legalize same-sex marriage. They received ample financial support and were able to take their case to the supreme court. There were nine justices involved in this case, and of those 9, 4 were known to be in favor of same-sex marriage and four were not. So, as the case progressed, it all came down to one justice named justice Kennedy. He was undecided on the matter and had many questions for the attorneys regarding the children that would be affected by this decision.
The attorneys arguing for same-sex marriage to be legalized relied heavily on the famous APA Brief which, they claimed, proved that children from homosexual families were not at any disadvantage compared to children from heterosexual families. In fact, they even claimed that they might be at an advantage. This brief was the convincing factor that led Justice Kennedy to vote for same-sex marriage to be legalized, thus leading to laws currently in place.
The interesting thing about this APA Brief, is that as we take a closer look, we see that the studies involved were very poorly designed. For example, most of the studies did not involve a comparison group (a control group to show differences). For the APA Brief to prove that children from homosexual families are legitimately at an advantage, it would require that a control group, in this case children from a heterosexual family, also be studied. There were many other issues with these studies, which I will not go into today, but I bring this up as an example of the results of misinformation.
I don’t bring up this example to start a debate on the effects of children in different family systems. Rather, to show the far-reaching effects of misinformation. My hope is that you will take this example as evidence that intentional learning is vital! Remember, be a skeptic! I promise it will influence your life decisions big and small.
Please feel free to leave any comments or questions below. I would love to chat!
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