تغريدة مثبتة
As we start 2026, I’m going to share my thoughts on how I try to determine fact from fiction in this world of misinformation. Here we go:
1. I Believe What I Can Easily Verify
Many things that people assert can be easily verified (or refuted) either through my own observation or via undisputed historical facts.
Let’s take vaccinations for example. Once upon a time, there was a disease called smallpox. It was fairly deadly and disfiguring. It doesn’t exist anymore. This coincides with the advent of the small pox vaccine.
Likewise, if you get rabies you will die. If you get the rabies vaccine you won’t. I guarantee you every anti-vaxxer who gets bit by a bat would will take the vaccine without exception.
Bottom line, I know vaccines work and are beneficial to society as a whole.
2. Agree With Those Who Have A Financial Incentive to Be Correct
Anyone can spout off on X or Reddit about a topic. If this person has no skin in the game, said opinion is basically worthless.
A good place to look is what do Insurance companies think ? Their entire business relies on accurately predicting future outcomes.
Well, if let’s use our vaccination example again. Race horses are expensive. Owners are wise to insure them to protect against financial loss. An owner can’t get insurance on a race horse that isn’t vaccinated. Therefore it is easy to conclude vaccines work.
Same is true with global warming. Insurance companies have assessed this risk and it is real and man made. However I do want to point out that, that the fact global warming is real does not mean cutting fossil fuels or going “green” is the only course of action. Far from it.
3. Treat Partisan Sources with Extreme Skepticism
This is self explanatory. If Fox News or some account on Bluesky is telling you want you want to hear, don’t believe it without looking at the issue in depth.
4. Don’t Follow the Science
If you hear a liberal say “just following the science” , “science is settled” , “study after study shows” or anything similar being used to justify something absurd on its face like outdoor cloth masking or trans dudes in women’s sports, the exact opposite is true. This one holds true for so many things I can’t even begin to list them.
5. Extraordinary Claims Require
Evidence
This obviously applies to conspiracy theories like Who Shot JFK but also to things like whether the 2020 Election was rigged against Trump.
If it was rigged, someone or some entity would have to orchestrated it. This leads to the question of who and how? The who has never been proposed to my knowledge and the how has never been really explained. If someone paid homeless people to vote for Biden show me evidence. If dead person votes for Biden, show me evidence.
Fact - no such evidence exists and I can safely say the 2020 election was not rigged.
6. Somethings Are Beyond My Ability to
Evaluate
This applies to almost everything foreign policy related. I completely lack the knowledge to assess what is going on. I biased though, as I tend to follow an America First perspective on foreign entanglements. For example, I assume Israel is acting in its best interests in the current conflict with the Palestinians. Are they being too heavy handed in Gaza? Not sure how I’d know that and if they were, all things considered I wouldn’t care.
That’s all I got for now.
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