In every way except, possibly, one.
I've been thinking about this a great deal over the summer. Not only does the media have complete control... well, essentially, on our opinions, but I'm starting to see that there's a lot more to it. It's more complex than I ever could have imagined.
The media, which is what we rely on to find out what's happening in the rest of the world, has the ability to select which facts they present, and how they present it to warp the story. They have the ability to (as I said before) play a game of association with you: the only things you know about a certain group of people are the negative aspects you hear in the media, which subconsciously or not, causes your mind to group the two together. On top of that, everything is biased. The news you think isn't biased, is. Of course if you put anything next to Fox News it won't seem so, but it is. They are all opinionated and they are carving this view on our society into our brains whether we notice it or not. From their word choice, to the footage they show while they're talking, to the facts they decide to present. Everything.
Even if you think you know more or less what's happening in the world right now, you probably don't. They don't show you everything. If something happens in another country, the media has the power to not mention it, so you can never know about it... almost as if it never happened... doesn't that scare you? They have power over our knowledge.
On top of that, every story that includes two opposing groups of people will always have one presented as the victim, even thought that isn't always the case. It just causes you to think negatively on the other group.
Leaving Cambodia, I thought that was all there was to it, just don't trust everything you hear on the news, because as much as you want to believe that it is, it's not pure fact.
I realised in Haiti that there's much more to it.
On the trip, I was talking to somebody who, I would like to think has a correct view on our society. His regard towards all of it was unique and not a mix of all the other garbage out there, but rather based off a true understanding of all the secrets and lies. So I said, "Have you ever considered being a teacher? People should be able to develop their own opinion on issues the way you do." He said, which alone made me realise so much more, "Who would hire me? Since my views don't conform with normality, no one wants to bring that kid of controversy to their educational system."
Which leads me to my next point about how limited our knowledge really is. Heres how I figure it: where do you, primarily, learn? At school, university or whatever other educational system. Who teaches you? Obviously, your teachers. Can anyone be a teacher? No, you have to be hired (which generally also requires you to have some kind of a degree, which you get at a university, where other teachers taught you, which shows that, once I prove my point, it's all part of a vicious cycle) So, who gets hired? The people with revolutionary unique, eye-opening ideas? No, generally not. Unfortunately, those who are hired are those who are ready to pass on the ideas that the school, government and society as a whole accept. The ones who will feed you what society wants you to know. Nothing else.
If a person has the ability to express new ideas and views that are frowned upon (or just not common) in our society or if they can teach you the truth and not just what you want to hear, well, the said truth is, nine times out of ten, they won't be hired.
If you live your life accepting only the information you receive on a day to day basis, without going out of your way to find out more, your knowledge will stay limited to only what they want you know. Practically nothing.
Okay so, same thing applies to everything else. Aside from school, where else do you learn? From your church/mosque/synagogue? Same thing there, if somebody wants to say something that is against what others want to believe then they won't be given the right to talk. And if they somehow do, no matter what they say, then the person is attacked beyond belief. There are too many examples of this exact scenario. Okay, next, we have news, school, place of worship… then you have friends and family. Well think about it, anything you learn from them, they learned from the same places mentioned above. As I said, the cycle is vicious and oh so complex. What source are you left with? Where can you publish your views without societal consent?
The information we receive is limited in every way. In every way except, possibly, one. The internet.
Now, don't get me wrong, there are a 1,001 things that are wrong with the internet and more than enough sites out there that are utter stupidity, but, it's changing the way we can access information. It's not just a matter of, watch the news, read the paper, that's all you can know. No, it's not like that anymore. Turn off the TV, close the paper. Turn on your wifi. Start to read. Yes, you will find the same things you watched on the news on the internet. But don't limit yourself to that one source. When was the last time you searched something and under that Google sign it said 'Showing results 1 of 1'. Exactly. Yes, there are sources there that are biased as well, but having the 6,000,732 search results to look at will help you understand that. The two news channels that your OSN box offers won't. Yes, you won't agree with everything you read but that's good, it means you're capable of accepting only part of what is being presented. You can find some reliable sources for facts and some other sources, (blogs and so on) to start forming your opinion on the topic. Your opinion comes from a combination of other people's views. It's based off of all the things you read: the good and the bad. But it's yours. The internet is home to the thousands of documentaries that can be found on YouTube that unfold the lies of our society. The internet can't be restrained, it's constantly being added to and is full of trillions of different views on practically everything. If it's used right (which is a whole other problem to get into) it's an amazing source. Use it.
As much as you want to believe that you watched the news, but developed your own opinion on the story, generally, you didn't. They're spoon-feeding you what they want you to know. Don't limit yourself to an already limited source when there are more than enough better ones out there. Be smart, use them.
Thank you internet, this is one of the few things that you're actually doing right.
[Read more about this topic in my racism post, history post, Haiti post, or, from the Cambodia blog, my Khmer Rouge post or media post]
LM
I've been thinking about this a great deal over the summer. Not only does the media have complete control... well, essentially, on our opinions, but I'm starting to see that there's a lot more to it. It's more complex than I ever could have imagined.
The media, which is what we rely on to find out what's happening in the rest of the world, has the ability to select which facts they present, and how they present it to warp the story. They have the ability to (as I said before) play a game of association with you: the only things you know about a certain group of people are the negative aspects you hear in the media, which subconsciously or not, causes your mind to group the two together. On top of that, everything is biased. The news you think isn't biased, is. Of course if you put anything next to Fox News it won't seem so, but it is. They are all opinionated and they are carving this view on our society into our brains whether we notice it or not. From their word choice, to the footage they show while they're talking, to the facts they decide to present. Everything.
Even if you think you know more or less what's happening in the world right now, you probably don't. They don't show you everything. If something happens in another country, the media has the power to not mention it, so you can never know about it... almost as if it never happened... doesn't that scare you? They have power over our knowledge.
On top of that, every story that includes two opposing groups of people will always have one presented as the victim, even thought that isn't always the case. It just causes you to think negatively on the other group.
Leaving Cambodia, I thought that was all there was to it, just don't trust everything you hear on the news, because as much as you want to believe that it is, it's not pure fact.
I realised in Haiti that there's much more to it.
On the trip, I was talking to somebody who, I would like to think has a correct view on our society. His regard towards all of it was unique and not a mix of all the other garbage out there, but rather based off a true understanding of all the secrets and lies. So I said, "Have you ever considered being a teacher? People should be able to develop their own opinion on issues the way you do." He said, which alone made me realise so much more, "Who would hire me? Since my views don't conform with normality, no one wants to bring that kid of controversy to their educational system."
Which leads me to my next point about how limited our knowledge really is. Heres how I figure it: where do you, primarily, learn? At school, university or whatever other educational system. Who teaches you? Obviously, your teachers. Can anyone be a teacher? No, you have to be hired (which generally also requires you to have some kind of a degree, which you get at a university, where other teachers taught you, which shows that, once I prove my point, it's all part of a vicious cycle) So, who gets hired? The people with revolutionary unique, eye-opening ideas? No, generally not. Unfortunately, those who are hired are those who are ready to pass on the ideas that the school, government and society as a whole accept. The ones who will feed you what society wants you to know. Nothing else.
If a person has the ability to express new ideas and views that are frowned upon (or just not common) in our society or if they can teach you the truth and not just what you want to hear, well, the said truth is, nine times out of ten, they won't be hired.
If you live your life accepting only the information you receive on a day to day basis, without going out of your way to find out more, your knowledge will stay limited to only what they want you know. Practically nothing.
Okay so, same thing applies to everything else. Aside from school, where else do you learn? From your church/mosque/synagogue? Same thing there, if somebody wants to say something that is against what others want to believe then they won't be given the right to talk. And if they somehow do, no matter what they say, then the person is attacked beyond belief. There are too many examples of this exact scenario. Okay, next, we have news, school, place of worship… then you have friends and family. Well think about it, anything you learn from them, they learned from the same places mentioned above. As I said, the cycle is vicious and oh so complex. What source are you left with? Where can you publish your views without societal consent?
The information we receive is limited in every way. In every way except, possibly, one. The internet.
Now, don't get me wrong, there are a 1,001 things that are wrong with the internet and more than enough sites out there that are utter stupidity, but, it's changing the way we can access information. It's not just a matter of, watch the news, read the paper, that's all you can know. No, it's not like that anymore. Turn off the TV, close the paper. Turn on your wifi. Start to read. Yes, you will find the same things you watched on the news on the internet. But don't limit yourself to that one source. When was the last time you searched something and under that Google sign it said 'Showing results 1 of 1'. Exactly. Yes, there are sources there that are biased as well, but having the 6,000,732 search results to look at will help you understand that. The two news channels that your OSN box offers won't. Yes, you won't agree with everything you read but that's good, it means you're capable of accepting only part of what is being presented. You can find some reliable sources for facts and some other sources, (blogs and so on) to start forming your opinion on the topic. Your opinion comes from a combination of other people's views. It's based off of all the things you read: the good and the bad. But it's yours. The internet is home to the thousands of documentaries that can be found on YouTube that unfold the lies of our society. The internet can't be restrained, it's constantly being added to and is full of trillions of different views on practically everything. If it's used right (which is a whole other problem to get into) it's an amazing source. Use it.
As much as you want to believe that you watched the news, but developed your own opinion on the story, generally, you didn't. They're spoon-feeding you what they want you to know. Don't limit yourself to an already limited source when there are more than enough better ones out there. Be smart, use them.
Thank you internet, this is one of the few things that you're actually doing right.
[Read more about this topic in my racism post, history post, Haiti post, or, from the Cambodia blog, my Khmer Rouge post or media post]
LM
