Timeless Lessons

Some lessons we learn never go out of style and only become more important with passing time.

When I was in High School in the 80s we had a teacher that made sure to touch on quotes from famous people. His lesson went something like this:

If you can't prove that a person actually said something then don't use the quote.

In the 90s I went to trade school to become a tool engineer. One of my instructors taught virtually the same lesson. If you can't prove that a quote is authentic then don't use it. He went on to say it makes you look foolish to educated people.

Here we are in 2020 and either many of the people on Facebook have forgotten this lesson or they never learned it. Either way, allow me to share some insight that has served me well all my adult life.

If you can't prove that a quote is authentic just don't post it. In the age of the information wars, we face now, you are likely spreading propaganda that is biased and serves only one purpose.

This purpose is to further the position of those posting them who have no other goal than to win at any cost and are willing to spread misinformation to bolster their view of reality.

Those that repost them do so out of a cognitive bias called confirmation bias. They support what I believe therefore they are true. Believe it or not, some people don't even care if they are true.

We need to stop fighting among ourselves, trying to prove that our neighbors are misguided or outright evil. We need to come together to tackle the real issues, among these are government corruption, greed, and fiscal waste on a national level.

Remember, just because something supports your views it doesn't make it true. And if you use quotes that you can not prove to be authentic...just don't...for the love of God, just don't.