Sheep to the Slaughter

Since the Olympics starting up last week, I have been watching them and in the little breaks where they interview competitors and show their stories, Ive been bummed that they only talk about American athletes... But then I remembered that Im in America, and Im sure that the South African coverage only highlights South African athletes...

But then I stumbled upon this whole #NBCfail catastrophe, where a reporter tweeted the email address of some NBC bigwig and he got flooded with hate mail for not showing the games live, but in primetime where they could make more money on adverts. Some strings where pulled, and the reporter got his Twitter account banned. Then while downloading a copy of the opening ceremony (I missed it on TV) I realized that the American version was censored... several parts of it where cut out when they showed it hours after the actual ceremony. Including the tribute to the victims of the 7/7 London terrorist attack, an attack which most Americans probably didnt remember. I canceled my NBC download and looked for the BBC version.

I then logged onto Facebook and found a new feature! A panel of trending articles that link to sponsored websites.

These "Trending Articles" are a way for Facebook to drive traffic to sites that pay them money. Nothing new... so like lots of stuff I dont care about, I went to hide it from the stuff that comes from actual people that I care about, and realized its unhideable.

Do I care that Facebook is trying to make money? Not at all. Do I care that the four "Trending Articles" where about sports? Kinda... I mean where is the news on the blackout in India? Or the conflict in Syria?

I am reminded of Christopher McCandless's paraphrase of Thereau "rather than love, than money, than faith, than fame, than fairness... give me truth."

I would add "rather than comfort, than entertainment, than peace" give me truth.

I have long known that the media is twisted to push a message, but Im realizing it now more than ever. We get into our "Filter Bubble's" (as this awesome TED talk puts it) where we only see what we want - or what complex algorithms THINK we want. Its like Cypher said in The Matrix - "Ignorance is bliss..." which is such a true statement. Seeing a need or a problem makes us feel guilty or responsible, seeing an update on Justin Bieber or Kim Kardashian makes us forget that there is a dying world out there beyond our front door, and lets us enjoy our bubbles.

"A squirrel dying in front of your house may be more relevant to your interests right now than people dying in Africa." -- Mark Zuckerberg, in response to a question about what gets on our Facebook newsfeeds.

That quote is so unfortunately true, and Im not knocking Mark for saying or thinking it. He is a business man trying to get people to spend as much time as possible on his website looking at ad's. Im not pretending that he has humanity's best interests in mind, because he has his wallet's best interests in mind!
But like Eli says in the Filter Bubbles talk (if you havent watched it yet, you should! Here is the link again...) The gatekeepers of the internet, namely Google and Facebook, need to start thinking forward, and bring us things that we need to see. Not things that we want to see.
I have stopped watching the news for my news. When I hear about a story I do my research on it, but all that the news is to me, is a way to hear about things that I should research. When I heard about the shooting in CO, I read a first hand account of one of the surgeons in the hospital where victims where taken. I downloaded an MP3 of the police scanners for that time, and listened the the actual police reports coming in. I dug up unedited cell phone video footage from people in the theaters. I read Fox's take on it, and the BBC's report. I talked to friends in CO to see what the general feel was of the people there. I went to some deep dark internet places, and found incredibly distasteful images and jokes referring to the victims.
I did my research at as many different places as possible, looking at as many views as possible. And I feel like Im pretty well informed about what happened that day. A few hours later I saw the same cell phone video clip I had found, playing on NBC. It was edited down, and the audio was removed.

All Im saying, is that we need to stop believing what we see and hear. We need to do our own research, and believe things because we are informed. And getting informed on something requires alot more than watching a 5 minute news story on it. Dig, look, read. Look places where you KNOW you will disagree with things.

This goes so much farther than news too, it goes to all aspects of life. I am a Christian, and I have studied Buddhism, and studied parts of the Koran. I disagree with all of it, but that doesnt mean I dont want to know what its about.
Listen to a sermon from the Westboro Baptist Church, and ask these guys why they believe what they believe - instead of just hating them and not knowing what makes them tick.

Westboro Baptist Church
Image Source

Watch documentaries on 9/11 even if you dont believe the conspiracy theories. Watch documentaries on veganism, and then ask vegans if its actually true - even though you love meat. Spend a good amount of time using both Mac AND Windows before you defend one or the other. Travel to other countries before saying that America is the best. Try anchovies on your pizza, and watch Spanish TV even though you dont understand what they are saying. Ask an Iraqi what she thinks about the war in Iraq, and then ask a US Soldier the same question.

Be informed. Make it a point to never say something unless you have a reason and can back it up with well researched information. And if you dont feel like doing the research - no problem! Just dont have views without knowing why. Dont trust the media to educate you, dont trust your educators to educate you. Heck, even the apostle Paul in the Bible says not to trust him, but to test everything for yourself.