Question Everything


Wherein our heroine thinks Deep Thoughts about Intellectual Rigor.
A common theme that has been highlighted lately in editorial pages is the failure to question, especially by the media. Editorial writers are questioning the lack of introspection and skepticism that seems to have become a hallmark of modern society.

I'm not so sure a failure to question is such a modern trait. Laziness is not a new failing, and it is far easier to simply take something as truth rather than to question it. It may also be a function of willful blindness. Those who want to believe, perhaps despite a tiny voice in the back of their mind, will resolutely use the language of trust, perhaps to the point of insanity, to avoid facing the possibility that their trust may be misplaced. Frauds in journalism are nothing new, and yet the public, the editors of a publication with a fraudster on their payroll, and sometimes even the liar/plagiarist themselves are shocked - SHOCKED - to find out that whatever sounded too good to be true actually is.

In political life, each side has been ridiculed by the other for their blind faith in various leaders. In turn, devotees of a particular leader will turn themselves inside out to either defend the person or ignore/mitigate the contradictions, distortions, and outright lies that come out of their leaders' mouths. It happens on both sides of the aisle here and in all corners of the globe. Policies that sound absolutely insane to an opposing party member are swallowed without a hitch by journalists and the faithful, even if they seem to run counter to most of the laws of economics and many of the laws of physics. This "bread and circus" mentality is like driving a car wearing virtual reality goggles. You may have fun while the show lasts, but the crash is going to be a doozy.

Perhaps the world is just moving too fast for journalists these days. Part of the issue in the media seems to be the fear of missing a scoop: a rumor gets floated, that rumor is picked up by journalists fearing that they will miss out on the feeding frenzy, and sooner or later it is "fact" without a single fact checked. Column inches then get dished up like fast food: hot, fat, salty garbage delivered quickly.

It's not nutritious, but it's filling.
Posted: Thursday - March 18, 2004 at 08:46 AM         | |

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