The Lies I Tell Myself
We live in a day and age where misinformation and the manipulation of information is running rampant across the world at large. Whether it is hurried news articles that weren’t fact checked, conspiracy theories pushed by zealous politicians and pundits, or viral social media posts concocted by internet trolls, we are confronted by an onslaught of baseless or manipulated news that has engulfed people of all walks of life. Fortunately, there are tools we can utilize in sifting through the mire of falsehoods and half truths, and that is the combined might of an open mind and critical thinking. Maintaining an open mind allows us to consider all options when information is presented to us, while critical thinking skills gives us the ability to question the legitimacy of the news that we digest. The enemy of this logical strategy is bias. As human beings, we have the tendency to be completely open-minded concerning ideas and perspectives we already agree on or are invested in, and overt...