Have you ever played, the game Two Truths and a Lie? Yes, no, whatever, lets play! I am going to present you with 3 statements about myself, and as the title would have you believe, two will be true, and one will be false. Keep your answer handy, I will reveal everything by the end of this read.
Fact 1: I am a published writer.
Fact 2: I am a father.
Fact 3: I am a millionaire on the verge of greatness.
At least one of those statements has to be true, right? Not too long ago, you could almost take written word as fact, especially if presented as such. There weren’t outlets that afforded the opportunity to speak to the masses. The platforms that existed, one would need to have some sort of ethos, some credibility in their respective field to be called upon. Now, in the era of social media, anyone can affect the way the next person relates to, accepts, or disagrees with information presented to them. The issue is not the sharing of opinions, but the acceptance of information without doing your own research.
Falsehoods and personal truths, the grease to a politician’s wheel, are the main tactics used to lure potential voters into perceiving misinformation as fact. Knowing that an audience believes in a certain policy, or rallies behind a controversial topic, baseless ideas can be inserted into a speech or commercial without a second thought. Subconsciously, these covert ideas take hold because they have now been related to something that ignites passion. Despite the cacophony of opinions and misinformation, truth and fact, still exist in this world. Somewhere along the way to the future, truth and fact took diverging paths. Truth became something that is wholly yours, while facts, as they are, remain provable with evidence. If we are to be a society that doesn’t implode upon itself, we have to be a society that is willing to forgo the bliss of ignorance. We have to want to be as knowledgeable as the reporters. We have to be able to see through our own misconceptions, our so-called truths, and empathize with the other side. Empathy is not acceptance of fact, yet acceptance of someone else’s truth.
True acceptance does not happen without understanding. With understanding and knowledge, we are able to build upon our beliefs, while being able to listen to, and hear out, the opinions of others, that may not hold the same truths as we do. There’s no way to change someone else’s mind, but you do have the ability to give someone the opportunity to think beyond their own prejudices, without the fear of retaliation or judgment. The irony of not prejudging someone with prejudices is not lost on me. To get back to the point where we believe each other again, much patience will be needed to sort through all the BS. I remember when “Word is bond” was as binding as a contract, yet, It seems as though honor has been supplanted by deceit.
Now, the moment you’ve been, patiently awaiting; not-so-regrettably, I have deceived you. The three statements I listed earlier are all lies, in spite of the truths that I can claim to hold. The fact is, I am not a father, a published author, nor am I anywhere close to becoming a millionaire. I am on the verge of greatness; I do have hope to, one day, pass down my knowledge to my offspring and I will be a published author by the time you read this article. In all essence, those are my truths; that doesn’t make them fact. The truth is, I am a multi- layered, quasi-optimist, with a chip on his shoulder. Once you can come to understand those complexities, you will be able to accept my ideas as my truth. Understanding that each person, organization, movement, etc, has varying complexities, the way to illuminate the difference between fact over fallacy is to care enough to ascertain the facts for yourself.
Works Taylor’d 