The log in your eye...

If you are going to spend your time thinking about something, you ought to go deep.

I think you ought to invest the time to understand an issue and the people involved.

I think understanding other people and their ideas takes time. More time than most people invest before jumping to judgement.

Do you know how many subjects are worth thinking about for 5 minutes?

Not very many.

How many subjects that are worth thinking about do you think you can form an educated opinion on after just a few minutes?

Again, I think the answer is not very many.

And yet, right now, “the news” is dominated by short-form content designed to trigger you into a single reaction.

For many people, “the news” is comprised of short video segments, headlines, and facebook posts.

These formats are not optimized for deep, critical thought.

Deep, critical thought is what is necessary for understanding and wise action.

The current formats most “news” is delivered is designed to trigger you and harvest your attention into ad revenue.

Think about that for a minute.

“The news” is optimized for turning your attention into ad revenue.

Do you watch “the news”? Do you consume any news through social media?

If you consume news in this form, you have to understand that you are allowing yourself to be part of the divisive culture that is running rampant.

Do you realize how many people can be turned into evil lunatics if you pick out the worst 20 second sound bite of their life?

Have you ever said something inappropriate in your life? Have you ever shared a thought out loud and then realized you needed to provide more context?

“The news” is designed to ignore context.

Why seek first to understand, when we can jump to quick judgement and blame others for all of our woes?

I believe it’s Matthew 7:1 that states “Judge, and let others influence your judgements to their own self-serving ends.”

If you can’t look a person in the eye and honestly say “I understand why you think that” even in disagreement, you have no basis for communication. If you have no basis for communication, you have no basis for trust and influence.

You have no basis for engineering better future outcomes with all people involved.

It is dangerous to generalize and characterize people. Yet think how much “news” uses the terms “Republicans”, ‘Democrats”, “the left”, “racists”, “environmentalists”, “white supremecists”, “liberals”, and “anti-vaxxers”.

We lump everyone into nice, convenient boxes that allow us to not engage in a battle of ideas. Why waste time exploring new ideas with the goal of an ever expanding consciousness and a better understanding of reality when we can just offload the responsibility to a handful of corporations who want the ad revenue?

Here’s the punch line to all this…

The problem isn’t “the media”. The problem isn’t “the news”.

George Carlin would tell us to look in the mirror if we’re in the mood to point fingers.

Be proactive.

Recognize the gap between stimulus and response.

Resist the temptation to form a judgement based on shallow information.

Resist the temptation to allow yourself to be triggered.

Instead, dive deep.

If you want to understand a person, give them a chance to speak. Sit down and listen to what they have to say.

If they have interesting points, buy a book and keep reading.

I don’t watch the news, but I go to great lengths to be well informed.

There’s an important difference.

Next time you find yourself watching the news, ask yourself if it is making you feel good.

Is watching the news making you more or less likely to judge others?

Is the news you are consuming leading you to feel love or hate?

If you are consuming any amount of news that is making you feel bad or hateful towards others, I suggest turning it off.

We will get no where unless we learn to love one another despite the fact that we are human and flawed.

Life is good!