I woke up today with severe pain on the left side of my stomach, it was so painful that I couldn't stand straight, and this made me try out different postures. I drank some water hoping it would help pacify the aching tummy, but it made little or no difference. I also visited the gents, but my actions brought about no form of relief.

I placed my hand on my tummy while I thought of what I could do to relieve the pain. Then, I remembered my Dad bought some tablets of soda mint some days ago. "But would soda mint help?", I asked myself. Since I didn't know the answer to that I decided to consult the largest reservoir of knowledge (the internet) for information concerning soda mint.

My search was; "does soda mint help relieve stomach ache?" Google brought out a list of things that soda mint is used for. From the first result, I realized that soda mint is used as an antacid to treat heartburn, indigestion, and upset stomach.

Immediately, I chewed two tablets, and I accompanied them with plenty of water. Within five minutes my raging stomach was soothed, and I even didn't know when I slept off on the chair I was sitting on.

The internet

The internet is filled with a lot of information that could be of benefit to us, as well as a lot of misinformation out there; and it is up to us to shift out the weeds from the actual plants.

Information is regarded as power, there is also a saying that says; "if you are not informed you will be deformed." The deformity is not physical but mental.

A lot of people are deformed today as a result of lack of information and misinformation, but you see between lack of information and misinformation. Lack of information is far better.

Why misinformation is dangerous

Misinformation is the main cause of conflict and many social injustices in the world, lack of information makes people do things out of ignorance.

But, misinformation makes people do wrong things with the confidence of thinking they are doing the right things.

For example, a young white boy growing up and being taught that all blacks are dangerous and he shouldn't make friends with them. That misinformation would grow and create a racist monster in the future if the young boy doesn't realize he is being misinformed.

Most suicide bombers and religious extremists are a result of misinformation. They are taught that killing for a particular religion or belief would grant paradise. What a blatant lie! But, little is done to combat this misinformation out there.

During COVID-19, a lot of people died not because they contracted the Coronavirus, but because they were following unverified news and rumor on how to prevent or cure covid-19. Many people were reported to have drunk anti-septic and other toxic things all because of fake news and misinformation.

Fake news

It is easier to deceive people in today's world because there are so many unregistered news outlets on the internet: looking for traffic on their sites. They, therefore, publish fake news or make bogus headlines to capture the attention of people.

Sites like this go as far as to use doctored images or videos to support their claim, thereby convincing ignorant people to believe the lies they publish.

Government is also involved

Sadly in today's world, not only private individuals or companies participate in the publication of fake news anymore. The government now publishes or pushes out fake news especially governments in countries that are not democratic but authoritarian.

For instance,

In Russia, the extent of the ongoing war with Ukraine isn't reported fully. The Russian government has named the war "a special operation", and condemns any news outlet that termed it as a war, they also prosecute anybody that publishes the current happening in Ukraine or speaks against the invasion. This has resulted in a parallel reality, where people don't know what is happening in their neighboring country.

Information is power and that is why authoritarian countries spend a lot of resources to censor information being shared in their country. They know that if people get access to the right information or get into the reality of what is happening there might be a revolution.

"know the truth, and the truth shall set you free"

~Jesus Christ (John 8:32)

25-08-2022

4:00 pm

Thanks for reading