We usually associate bravery and courage with specific acts of physical prowess involving danger and risk. The person involved could be injured or killed. The consequences of failure are definitive and real. Success is victory. Little lies in the space between.
But there’s another less acknowledged kind of courage. It’s the courage to examine certain beliefs we hold, find them lacking or incorrect, and embrace new beliefs.
That’s exactly the kind of courage on display in this recent ARTICLE in The Guardian.
I encourage you to take the time to read it.
While most of us never go as far down the ‘rabbit hole’ of online conspiracy theories as the young man profiled in this piece, it is important for us to constantly monitor how much the information we absorb online shapes our perspective…and our resulting decisions and actions.
That the quality of our information and news impacts our personal quality of life is obvious. But in the bigger picture, we must remember that to enjoy ‘independence’ as a nation, we must exercise ‘independence’ in our personal thinking.
We must also recognize that we in the US are governed by ‘representatives’, elected officials who are, for better or worse, ‘representative’ of us, the electorate. A sobering and perhaps disconcerting thought when we see the behavior of politicians recently.
So be vigilant. Be suspicious of what you read and hear. Watch for hidden agendas. And when you find reliable sources for news and information, support them and, to a certain extent, trust them. But keep your eyes wide open.
Everyone’s human.
- BGT