Today we are swimming in a sea of fake information. Some of it may be high-level fake from mainstream news and some of it may be, what I call, trash fake from social media. But, if we are to become Futureproof and stay sane in the middle of all this, we need to learn how to tell what’s real and what isn’t. If we don’t, we are going to be constantly reacting which puts us on a roller coaster of stress that harms our health. More than ever now, we need to learn how to ‘smell’ fake.
Much of this fake information is put there to manipulate us, I think most of us know this now, and it is vital that we teach ourselves and our children how to see it for what it is.
Of course, fake information not only comes from the media, it can come from the people and organisations around us, too, so every 21st century human needs to develop an internal fake detector. Here’s how you can develop your fake detector…
No 1: ASK YOURSELF – WHAT KIND OF FAKE IS IT?
There are 2 kinds of fake. The first is where the information is completely fake without an ounce of truth in it. It has clearly been made up by some person or organisation. Then there is the fake that is based on true facts, but this information has been distorted or parts have been left out to create a false impression. When I worked in the media, I saw first-hand how easy it is to edit a piece of video or audio six different ways to end up with six different stories. So, decide whether what you are seeing is complete nonsense or a distorted version of the truth.
No 2: DON’T ALWAYS TAKE PICTURES AT FACE VALUE
This one is so, so important. Photos/videos can not only be edited to look like something completely different, the event itself can be staged.
There was a good example of an inflammatory video in June this year where the incident was staged although you had to look closely to see that. The video was taken by a member of the crowd during a street protest in Buffalo, USA. It looked as though a senior man had been pushed over by the police and was lying unconscious on the pavement bleeding from the head as the police walked by. When you look closely at the video you see that, just before this, the man was walking in front of the police waving his mobile phone in front of their chests. It turned out that he was trying to get the frequency of the police communications.
When the policeman pushed him aside, he seemed to fly off backwards in a way that was out of proportion to the push. As he landed, he put his hands out behind him, so he did not hit his head on the pavement. When you zoom in and see the blood trickling from his head you can see that there is a black tube running up to his ear from a small pouch in his hand that he is pumping. This is a device used in the film industry to pump fake blood for a scene. One of the policemen looks at the man and says, “It’s fake” and they all walk on by. It later turned out that the man was a known agitator who had a hate website against the police and had been arrested several times before. However, when I first watched the video I was outraged, too, and had the reaction against the police that this man was trying to create. But further research showed the truth – see it on this video. (Fast forward to 15 minutes if you don’t want to look at the other material.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExCZqi53WK4
No 3: DEVELOP A DISCERNING MINDSET
I’m afraid that in the today’s world it is important that we develop a discerning mindset as a general way of life. Unfortunately, this means that we don’t automatically take everything at face value and we check out certain events/people/information before we accept them as actual fact. This doesn’t mean that we become paranoid (although there are days when that is a challenge) but that we just question the things that feel too good or too bad.
No 4: LEARN TO TRUST YOUR INSTINCT
Learning to trust your instinct is one of the most valuable tools you can have in your life toolkit. Often things that happen in our early lives can teach us to ignore or not even recognise the signals we get from our ‘gut’. Even though humans have evolved to do incredible things we are still mammals at the biology level and mammals have exquisite instincts. One way you can teach yourself to recognise when your instincts are talking to you is to do this exercise.
Close your eyes and breathe deeply for a few breaths. Now, say to yourself, “I hate X where this is something that you really love like a person, a food, an animal, or anything that you are passionate about. Now see how your body feels when you say this. Do you feel: pressure in the head, an icky feeling in your gut, tension in your muscles, a growing sense of outrage, or anything else that is not normally there? Now say to yourself “I Love X (the same thing) which is a true statement for you. Now see how you feel – a warm glow, a subtle smile, a softness throughout your body, a lightness in the heart area. Try this a few times and you will then have your particular radar for the fake.
No 5: CHECK THE SOURCE OF THE INFORMATION
Evaluate the accuracy of the information. You can do this by checking it against what you already know and any trusted people/websites that you have had good information from in the past. You may then want to check the credentials of the author although bear in mind, some people are very good at blagging and you will need to trust your instincts on what you find. You may then want to dig deeper on the subject and see what comes out of the woodwork.
No 6: GIVE TIME FOR THE TRUTH TO EMERGE
Sometimes, a story (whether it’s in the press or in your personal life) may need some time to ripen. If your instincts tell you very clearly that this information is sound, then you may not need to stand back for awhile while the full story emerges. However, I have found it so useful at times to just wait and see what happens. Or you can just test the water by going a little further down that road and see the feedback that comes your way. This often clarifies anything that you have not been sure about and the truth will gradually emerge. It always does.
No 7: ASK YOURSELF – WHO BENEFITS FROM ME BELIEVING THIS?
Often, this is the most revealing question that you can ask. This can apply to a news story, a scammer email or just another person. I like to imagine a room full of people watching or hearing that information and look at their faces and body language as they see/hear it. Sometimes the information may be genuinely empowering for them but if it is confusing them, scaring them, conning them or just making them feel bad about themselves then you know that there is likely to be an unhealthy agenda behind it. Then ask, how does the sender of that information benefit from those people being in that emotional state? Sometimes it can be financial but usually it is control-based.
For the kids: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zd9tt39
Photo by Alejandra Coral on Unsplash