2017: The Year of the Source

      I come from a family that makes New Year's Resolutions every January 1st.  Sometimes they're serious, sometimes they are fun, but they always come from a place of self-improvement.  This year, I have two related to politics and social justice.

#1: I will have no regrets in 2017 about missed opportunities to take political action.  Big or small, whether a simple conversation or a significant protest.  Realistically I know I won't be able to do everything that comes my way, but I intend to approach each opportunity with enough determination and open-mindedness that I will have no regrets.

#2: I declare 2017 to be the year of "State Your Source."  And I welcome you to join me in this, so let me explain.

      One of the most appalling hallmarks of 2016 was the wide-spread disease that is political and social falsehoods.  Some of this came from our most visible political contenders.  A lot of it came from social media.  And some of it has had shocking, tragic consequences.
      False news has appeared on virtually every topic, but especially politics.  I wish I could say that I have been immune to this plague.  As a person who was taught how to vet accurate source material in high school, college, and graduate school, I wish I could say I held a healthy skepticism.  But this isn't true.  I, like many others, got sucked into the emotional furor of the election and jumped all over at least one utterly fictional internet meme.

I found out this wasn't true by watching 2016's final episode of "Last Week Tonight," which - although comedic in nature - is serious about the accuracy of the news they share.

     This Trump meme was an easy one to swallow, for a couple obvious reasons.  First of all, it really does sound like something Trump would way.  It uses his choice vocabulary, and the pattern of speech as indicated by the punctuation is a perfect match to his typical way of talking.  There's also the fact that a "source" is given: People Magazine, 1998.  If a source is given, then hey, that's gotta be true!  But it turns out that it wasn't.
      When I discovered I had bought into and verbally repeated a complete fabrication, I was horrified and embarrassed.  Some people said I was over-reacting; it's not like the few people I'd told had made a significant impact on the outcome of the election, or even damaged someone's life.  But this could be said of any single person re-Tweeting or re-posting a meme or article.  Individually, they are hardly culpable--but as a whole, they can have a powerful impact.  That's why people go to the trouble of creating these falsehoods.
      What really mortified me, however, was not the fear that I had been one pebble in a crushing landslide.  It was the blow to my integrity.  I am personally embarrassed that I so readily bought into a lie.  My ideas about who I am - my estimation of my own intelligence - are brought into question when I so readily latch onto a piece of information because it fits with my existing worldview.  As a psychotherapist, I know that this is the mental mechanism that feeds bias, prejudice, and bigotry.  I also know that depending on how much emotion someone attaches to a topic, their willingness to change their opinion may defy all logic, even when it is in their best interest.
      I do not - NOT - want to be one of those people.

They called him "Honest Abe" for a reason, folks.
(Please tell me I don't have to explain that this is a gag.)

      I do want to keep track of the incoming U.S. president's lies.  And yes, I believe he is going to tell a lot of lies, because the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior, and he has already told the U.S. and the world a lot of lies.  But the power of my argument is only as strong as the truths behind them.  If my opinions of Trump prove false, and he turns out to have an overwhelmingly positive impact on this country, then I don't want to dig me heels into the mud and whine about it: I want to be the first person to say, "Wow, I've never been so happy to be wrong in my life!"*  On the other hand, if my suspicions prove true, I want to have the hard evidence to back them up.  I want to be a person of integrity even when it is inconvenient.
      So when I hear a piece of information offered as fact, even when I like it - no, especially if I like it - I am going to ask: "state your source."  And I want people to do the same to me.  This isn't meant to be snarky, nor superior.  This is coming from a place of true curiosity, and a desire to hold myself accountable.  "The Truth shall make you Free"...but internet memes will mess with your mind.


*Admittedly it's hard to believe that possibility, considering he sometimes "promises" to do two entirely opposing things.