It's not too difficult to see where the furor over "fake news" is going from the direction that the use of "terrorism" took post 9/11. The push for combatting terror result in the indefinite suspension of constitutional rights and civil liberties, and the charging of domestic dissenters with "terrorism."
Now the furor over "fake news" has emboldened the government to suppress news, news organizations and news reporting that it does not like.
A pushback is coming to the Internet’s success in giving the world access to diverse opinions and dissenting information. Politicians, mainstream media and technology giants are taking aim at what they call “fake news,” reports Robert Parry.
“Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.”
ReplyDelete-- Buddha
You can also read George Seldes, a journalist in the early 20th century and later an author who wrote about newspaper corruption. The only thing that's changed in the last 80 years is now there is TV and the internet.
http://fakebuddhaquotes.com/believe-nothing-no-matter-where-you-read-it/
ReplyDeleteYes, bad quote. From the Kama Sutra:
ReplyDeleteDo not believe anything on mere hearsay.
Do not believe in traditions merely because they are old and have been handed down for many generations and in many places.
Do not believe anything on account of rumors or because people talk a a great deal about it.
Do not believe in what you have fancied, thinking that, because it is extraordinary, it must have been inspired by a god or other wonderful being.
Do not believe anything merely because presumption is in its favor, or because the custom of many years inclines you to take it as true.
Do not believe anything merely on the authority of your teachers and priests.
But, whatever, after thorough investigation and reflection, you find to agree with reason and experience, as conducive to the good and benefit of one and all and of the world at large, accept only that as true, and shape your life in accordance with it.
Buddha also said that this must be applied to his own teachings.
This is consistent across perennial wisdom. Many think that perennial wisdom is to be accepted on blind faith in a teaching. That is not actually the case. A teaching is only accepted if it makes enough sense to be attractive while that the same time going beyond ordinary experience.
ReplyDeleteAs one follows a genuine teaching, experience begins to confirm the teaching as one encounters various landmarks. It is "scientific" in that there is a rationale that can be tested in the laboratory of one's experience. Modern science is now finding that measurable physiological, psychological and behavioral changes occur some of which can be correlated to subjective reports and some remain subliminal to consciousness but detectable through testing.
Given that Dean Baker has demolished hundreds of articles in the Washington Post, I take it the main sources of fake news are the respectable broadsheet newspapers...:-)
ReplyDelete