Why This Matters Statistics are a vital part of effectively evaluating information and yet, as the saying goes, “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.” Misusing statistics is a key tool for manipulating opinion, and numbers are often used to mislead others in order to meet a particular agenda. Torture numbers,
Category Hub - Discernment: Evaluating Information & Testimony
You can navigate this site using these tools: Category Hubs (like this one), the Main Menu (above), and Related Content (located at the bottom of pages).
Evaluating the Mainstream Media and Independent News Sources: Investigative Journalism vs. The Illusion of Choice & Propaganda
Introduction Let’s attempt to get an elevated perspective on the oft-maligned “mainstream media” (MSM). Is the MSM an evil manipulation as some propose? Or is it, as others say, a safeguard of democracy? One tactic for slicing through emotion and hyperbole is to get very specific and literal. This can, of course, help with clarity
The Enemies of Truth: Introduction & Overview
Introduction Here you’ll find an overview of the wide range of strategies and techniques that suppress and negate truth-telling and truth-seeking. Select links to go deeper. Why It Matters Graham Hancock offers a particularly powerful consideration in this 6-minute video. Although he is highlighting the criminalization of consciousness-enhancing plants, he explains the vital importance of
Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs)
A non-disclosure agreement (NDA) creates a legal obligation to keep secrets. While NDAs may be used for protecting intellectual property, for example, they are also used to prohibit a person from “going public” with allegations of abuse which “raises an obvious and troubling question: what about warning other potential victims of abuse?”
The Art of War and The War on Truth
Why This Matters Society is inundated with strategists who use the ultra-famous Art of War as a guide for interacting with those around them. Executives, lawyers, business schools, corporate sales and marketing departments, sports coaches, and dating guides have all described using this 2,500-year-old text. The Art of War is considered to be very wise
Truth – Facts – Proof – Partial & Competing Truths – Knowledge – Meaning & Story – Authorities on Truth
Keeping it Ultra-Practical To look at “truth” as a general subject appears to be simply a philosophical exercise — not a pragmatic one — because in real-life, truth seems to fall within the realm of common sense. People who don’t know truth from untruth? They must not have common sense, so whaddya gonna do? We
Evaluating Individual Testimony and Entertaining Possibility
Introduction Topics such as government crimes and corporate power abuse are purposefully shrouded in secrecy by perpetrators (through such strategies as NDAs, compartmentalization and extortion, among other strategies). Therefore, information about such subjects is primarily in the form of individual testimony: everyday people reporting their experience and observations. In addition to secrecy, the very nature
Who Can You Trust? Developing Discernment: Introduction & Overview
Introduction How can we be wise about choosing who and what to trust? In other words, how can we be sure we’re being appropriately discerning? This is a big topic that can be looked at from a number of angles. The first few perspectives below are recaps of teachings from other places on this site.
