NO to a world of lies

April is almost over. read.cash really had to take a back seat this month. While the Holy Week afforded somewhat of a break, the brain was just too exhausted after being buried under work the weeks prior.

Doing research, verifying information, and writing takes a lot of energy. Hopefully, readers realize this, and as their contribution, consume only news articles or videos that have gone through vetting. Or at least be responsible enough to fact-check anything they read or watch that sounds dubious, silly, destructive, or totally outlandish.

If we are honest about it, people know what is true and what isn't. But when you're constantly bombarded by information from social media every single day - be they from credible or incredible sources - the tendency is to take everything as truth. Expending energy to check facts isn't fun and it takes time, so why even bother.

If such proliferation of falsehood barely concerns people, then that is quite terrifying. Accepting everything we see online without a healthy dose of skepticism or not even being just a tad bit curious about its veracity can skew our thinking and lead us to make decisions based on lies or half-truths. Isn't that dangerous?

And what are the sources of information that many people accept hook, line, and sinker? TikTok. YouTube. Facebook. C'mon!!! Half the people on these platforms don't even reveal who they are! How can you believe someone who can't - or won't - even identify themselves yet insist on spreading preposterous information?

YES, fighting mis- and disinformation can be exhausting, but it needs to be done. Otherwise, we may be committing the gravest error of destroying people, innocents at that, just because we didn't think it important enough to know what was true or not. And do not for a second believe that you won't fall victim to this. If not you, maybe someone you love or care about.

So, let the golden rule apply: do unto others what you want others to do unto you. And I don't think you'd want to be spreading lies because that's bad, like little children would say.

We are all prey to those who take delight in peddling or spreading news that is sensationalized, manipulated, and fabricated, and every time we believe or pass these to others without checking if it's true, we feed their wickedness until it balloons and becomes something far worse.

Do we want to exist in a place created out of falsehood? Don't we owe it to ourselves to live with the truth and by the truth?

Let us not be fooled by people who do not respect others, and end up fooling themselves with the things they say and do. Don't be that person who knows the truth and sees the truth but continues to believe in the lies.

Please, please... love, respect, and value yourself; do not put yourself in a position forcing you to embrace the untrue and eventually live in a distorted world. Cling to principles that lead to what is right, what is good, and what is true.

Fight the lies. Stand for the truth. YOU deserve that much. 

Images from Unsplash