3 Blind Men and Common Sense

          When I was a young lad my beliefs & values were determined by my family, Church, school teachers and friends beliefs and values! Phrases like: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”; “The strong help the weak, the rich help the poor and the smart help the not so smart”; and the common sense statement of my Father “Use your head for something other than a Hat Rack”!

          After my real world experiences in collage and my time in the Marine Corps I began my journey to understand the Eastern Parable of the Elephant and the Blind Men. Where each touched a different part of an Elephant and each had the belief that they knew what they touched; a tree, a snake or a wall. Enlightened by a Rajah’s wisdom, the blind men reached an agreement. “Each one of us knows only a part. To find out the whole truth we must put all the parts together.”

          Simple, right; so they concluded that “there was a snake on a tree next to a wall”! Thinking back to teachings of Aristotle the Rajah realized that he had omitted critical educational information which led them to make a logical but invalid conclusion.

          So “To find out the whole truth we must put all the parts together” but we don’t know what we don’t know. We must rely on our education, beliefs and values to engage our critical thinking skills or common sense. Now there is the rub, “Education” for one person may be “propaganda” for another. Two sides of the same coin.

          Both education and propaganda is the more or less systematic effort to manipulate other people’s beliefs, attitudes, or actions by means of opinions and symbols (media, words, gestures, banners, monuments, music, clothing, insignia, hairstyles, etc.).

          Once upon a time, in a land far away the “Truth” was found in facts and not rumors or opinions! I remember when Walter Cronkite would read the news and let you make your own opinion, then close out his time with “And that’s the way it is”. In today’s media it seems to me that there are lots of opinions and very few facts or only partial facts and even lies to support an opinion.

          The Monopoly of media outlets such as newspapers, film, television, radio, and satellite broadcasting, may be on a national and international level. It scares me. I make my own choices based on my conservative values and common sense: “If it looks like a Duck, sounds like a Duck, then it’s probably a Duck”. The old saying, “Trust but verify” has never been more important than it is today.

          Just my opinion, What’s yours?