What it Means to Trust Only Ourselves
These are unique times, times when people seem to be intractable, stubbornly sticking to their ideas and positions even in the face of irrefutable facts. Yes, but whose facts? True. We can’t even take for granted that facts are facts and not just someone’s opinion. We have learned not to trust anyone but ourselves.
We’ve learned this through our short history of disruption. And our experience with corruption in all corners of the civilized world. As a society, we’ve grown distrustful and sadly that has left us in a situation where we’ve come to only depend on ourselves.
This bears out in so many untold and unfathomable ways. But I’ll keep it short. Let’s just take school kids. Can they trust they’ll be safe? Can they trust that when they report those who bully or cheat some action will be taken? Can they trust that a friend won’t turn on them for a new ‘follow’ or ‘like’? From what I’ve heard from countless middle schoolers over the past several years, the answer is a sad no.
In part, we’re paying the price for the result of the tearing through of societal norms and community-minded thinking in the past couple of decades. We were headed in this direction but now it’s gotten to a peak and we were perhaps were too blinded by our daily lives to put things together.
First, I need to clarify where I’m coming from. There are sources I don’t trust either. Like the Health Ministry which is run by Hamas. Or the Head of the Gaza Hospital who was recently discovered to be a head of Hamas since 20101. Or the UN2, who time and time again proves its foundational bias against Israel. Or Al Jazeera which has posted false videos of the Israel-Hamas War. Or news outlets that have proven themselves to hold biases (FoxNews3 and MSNBC4 are among the most egregious), or do not provide context for their reporting, or habitually state their opinions when it’s facts I want to hear.
I see the stubbornness every day on X / Twitter. Since October 7th, I’ve been a very active user. Posts from trusted sources, containing maps, historical facts and figures, verified documents, and news articles from reputable sources try to establish a baseline of understanding about the war. Despite all this, there are many, many people who will not budge from their lane. Not even a smidgen. There is a term for this, it’s a syndrome known as confirmation bias, when facts don’t change our minds5.
So why am I expending energy to tweet6 into an echo chamber? What will I accomplish? Well, I hate to admit it, but my being on X is kind of a selfish act. It’s really for me that I’m tweeting. Actually, it’s my conscience. Because I can’t sit idly by and not respond to the hatred I see. I need to feel that I’ve done a little bit, which makes me feel better. But I can’t possibly believe that I’m changing minds.
You can check that out here: https://www.newsnationnow.com/world/war-in-israel/gaza-hospital-chief-hamas-leader-interrogation-shin-bet/
The UN Watch report here: https://unwatch.org/un-condemns-israel-15-times-rest-of-world-7/
There is not other word right now for what people do on “X”.