Kort Explores conundrums of the human condition

"Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense."
Buddha

The issue of information credibility and integrity is becoming a growing problem. With the development of relatively easy to use digital processing technologies (morphing, image manipulation, source spoofing, forgery, etc.) it is becoming increasingly difficult to verify the origin and integrity of information. Some experts in photographic evidence have claimed that in the last couple years advances in image manipulation have made all photographic evidence suspect. Take for example the "expert testimony" in the O.J. Simpson civil trial claiming that the photos of O.J. wearing the murderer's shoes in sports-news photographs published before the event were "doctored" - until other photographers showed up with dozens of similar photos.

Can we really trust any information - regardless of citations, credentials, etc? How can we really know that even a seemingly impressive seal of approval hasn't been so skillfully forged that even the legitimate authority has a hard time identifying the fake?

Not too long ago information was all suspect and people had to deal with it. Then along came technology with photographs, fingerprints, etc. and for a time appeared to give us certainty about the sources and validity of our information. Now the pendulum has swung back to where technology has undone the certainty it appeared to provide and we're back to where we must be at least minimally on guard.

It might be a good thing that our unquestioning acceptance of information is being shaken. Our modern world deluges us with efforts to bypass our critical faculties and manipulate our emotions. Too many people today uncritically buy products in response to manipulative advertising, and vote for politicians on the basis of skillfully deceptive campaign promises that conceal the true character of the candidate.

Truth is where you find it, and is least often found in the pronouncements of those with a vested interest in protecting the status quo and opposing change. Nonstandard ideas from politically incorrect sources have provided the keys to nearly all major advancements in the human condition - from science to political philosophy. We can thank unconventional thinkers willing to buck the credentialed protectors of the officially sanctioned delusions of their day for such abominations as democracy, human and civil rights, modern medicine, the industrial revolution, etc.

The establishment nearly always resists moving closer to the truth. Blind loyalty to established authorities, building layer upon layer of misinformation on a false foundation build by the credentialed authorities of the time, gave us the earth-centered universe, Piltdown man, the unsinkable Titanic, and the space shuttle.

The best we can do in these uncertain times is apply a "scientific" approach to all information - everything we know is just an approximation and subject to revision, refinement, or even outright reversal. We need to rediscover our abilities to use common sense, the informed opinions of those we trust around us, and to a lesser extent the source and apparent credentials, in judging for ourselves the credibility of information.