How to Read the News

 

One thing I love about reading books about history is seeing when the prevailing wisdom of any given time is not only proven wrong but looked back on with incredulity, like “how could we have not known that.” The amazing thing about the human race is the accumulation of knowledge over time, not always in a straight line, and we do well to learn from the mistakes of those who came before this. 

This requires an ability to process information, keep an open mind, admit when we’re wrong, change our minds, and act on our new beliefs. Which may seem obvious, but I would argue this is exceedingly rare in our divisive times. Consider how many of us gain and process news nowadays: 

1. We turn to our trusted sources even if they are biased (and we either deny they are biased, or we know but don’t care) 

2. We parrot their statements without double-checking or even thinking about them   

3. If an opposing news source says the opposite, we immediately discount it (and usually seek to discredit the source) 

4. If an opposing news source says what we believe, we proudly crow “even they agree with us” 

5. If any news source puts out a more nuanced take (increasingly rare but it still happens), we immediately interpret it as favorably as possible for our position 

I get it. We are all feeling assailed, not only the volume of information but by its content. It’s a lot of bad news out there! Reasonable to take refuge in things that confirm our bias. Human nature to believe we have no bias but can see it in everyone else. 

But, progress in humanity, and our own contribution to and enjoyment of it, requires that we keep an open mind. Which literally means the opposite of the things I listed above that we are all guilty of: 

1. Seeking out additional and differing opinions 

2. Testing our beliefs rather than blindly asserting them 

3. Acknowledging we may be wrong and the other side right, or at the very least that there are redeeming aspects of the other side’s perspective 

4. Having some humility about having “figured it all out,” enough to be open to changing our mind 

5. Treating the other side as fellow humans who we should be kind to and want to learn from 

Will we commit to this? Or are we destined to huddle in our tribes and miss out broader social discourse, clinging to beliefs some of which end up looking archaic? Time will tell.