Anything coming out of the mainstream media is so dubious these days as to be completely untrustworthy. Each week I now search for information employing great discernment and critical thinking. I don’t trust any single AI search system to give the whole story, especially information that I want to trust as complete. AI has its value, but I never stop at a single or even a couple of web searches with just one search engine. My research interest in worldviews has made me critical even of my own beliefs and values. I constantly review what I think and belief, and especially, why I believe anything. It can be a little trying at times, but experience has taught me that ‘truth’ is rarely what we think it is and the world we are now living in is not the world I once thought was straight forward.
Like most other people growing up, I had a worldview that had nation states working with each other, or going to war, to protect our systems. But even as a kid I had questions that the adults either had no answers for or were unwilling to even address. This was also true of part of my childhood that involved religious indoctrination. I was always deeply uncomfortable having to follow doctrines or cultural norms without question. I was a nerdy kid always looking for answers that I rarely found in mainstream sources – I spent a lot of time with a wide and esoteric range of library books. I grew up in England so had an English framed worldview. Having travelled a lot across the European continent with my parents I recognized how things that were ‘normal’ in the UK or each country were anything across all countries. When I moved to the U.S. my culture shock was hard because the U.S. worldview was drastically different for me.
This is not meant to be a critique of any worldview but an observation of how I grew to see truth as something different from people around me, especially here in the U.S. I recognize things that most people ignore – it’s like they have these comfortable blinkers on. And this seemed true in my academic schooling. Whatever the academic discipline, scientific facts are anything but. They are merely the best information that fits established theories, which in themselves are often flawed since new information can make them quickly obsolete.
We put too much trust in technocrats and technological ‘science’ to resolve all our problems. In 1966, physicist Richard Feynman observed the limits of science and recognized the limits of scientific thinking. He said that truly learning from science means learning to doubt the experts. He went on to say that when someone claims science has shown [or worse proven] something, you should ask how it showed it. The question is a request for the evidence. It’s why we have an academic peer review system – not perfect but a good attempt at fairness in research, but scientism is rampant. You’re trying to see the reasoning with your own eyes. People who stop questioning are the ones with absolutist beliefs that resist any change. Absolutists abound and think they have it all figured out. They believe that they know how things work. They refuse to change the abstract structures they’ve built. On the other hand, the curious ones of us are full of doubts yet willing to embrace uncertainties. Hence, we have many ‘non-experts’ that are creative, innovative, and open to modifying their beliefs. Curious people create change but they make absolutists uncomfortable since they ask uncomfortable questions.
When I changed career from a research scientist to environmental educator, I was a tad confused why my ‘tribe’ of environmental thinkers trying to ‘save the world’ could be so conflicted. After all weren’t we all supposed to be on the same path to create a better future? Once I started to deeply study sustainability, I had to go down rabbit hole after rabbit hole across a whole transdisciplinary range of subjects and ideas. I have discussed this throughout this blog of mine. It’s why I finally concluded that the world we live within at this time cannot be saved using the same beliefs and values that creates all the problems. You know, that oft used quote, “We cannot solve our problems with the same kind of thinking that created them.” We like to attribute this to geniuses but it is easily recognizable by all of us as obvious.
Trusting the power-that-be or letting them continue to keep us herded like sheep with propaganda is our fatal flaw. I’ve spoken at length of an idea to create a better world from the Grass roots – my five items list (see link). The question I get frequently is what will it take to get us all on board? Before we plan a sustainable world, we must get everyone to be more curious and question the official narratives. Never underestimate the power of the mainstream media in controlling your thinking.
Violence, greed and exploitation with a materialist mindset literally cannot continue, and no amount of ‘system tweaking and/or innovation’ can bring solutions to our global problems. Our thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and beliefs shape our realities. If we don’t change them, nothing else matters. We change or we head over the edge of the abyss – our collective choice. Until WE act with spiritually framed wisdom the needed changes will be just unrealized hopes and dreams.
I recognize how sweeping change scare, nay terrify people. It seems so many tolerate the deep confining rut they know than the open meadow they don’t. But until we the awakened ones can demonstrate a path to follow, large numbers of people will simply keep trying to tweak the system that does not benefit us, the masses. “Critical independent thinking means knowing that at least some of what you [currently] believe may be wrong, and being open to a wide variety of new information. If you believe all the exact same things you did 10 years ago, you’re doing it wrong… Always ask yourself: “What evidence would convince me that I’m wrong?” If ‘nothing’ is the answer then you are not adhering to the rules of science and logic” Johanthan N. Stea.
The magical ‘they’ (however you view leadership),’ do not have the answers we need. “Idolizing a politician is like believing the stripper really likes you” Facebook meme. Be curious and critical in what you think. Analize everything. “Curiosity is refusing to accept the first answer. And thinking to yourself, “what would have to be true for this to be wrong?” Curious people learn. They test and do things. And don’t wait for permission to figure things out. Most people spend their entire careers waiting for an assignment. They want a brief, a spec sheet, or a green light. The rare skill today is seeing a problem, diagnosing the cause, and coming up with what works before you get the green light. When algorithms handle routine execution, the most valuable person in the room is the one who says, “follow me, I figured out a vital answer for this.” Irreplaceability is your personal responsibility. One of the newest and biggest risks to your career [and future] is “curiosity offloading.” Letting algorithms decide what deserves to be looked into. If you are getting compelling answers without creative effort, you lose the productive struggle that builds judgment” Liora Daven (Blogger).
We have the knowhow and the technologies to solve our global problems both politically and ecologically. But we need to govern ourselves from the local and grassroots level. I’m sure that larger governmental systems, more rooted in spiritual concepts will still exist in this new world we can build, but they have to be accountable to the people – you know, something that every democracy on earth emphasizes but where the current politicians seem incapable of understanding anymore. They are too tied to the corruption system, even if they are not actually corrupt themselves when they enter the political system. The system itself corrupts them. But I see a trend with a different kind of ethical leadership occurring at the grass roots level. Leadership rooted in community.
“Nearly everyone knows that the current global market economic system is primarily responsible for all of our socio-economic-ecological problems. What people need is hope in a path that can actually make the changes needed. We have persisted for decades in watching the endless meetings of elite hierarchical groups like the World Economic Forums (Davos), The Club or Rome, The Bilderberg Group, or the United Nations hosted Conference of the Parties (COPs), the results of which clearly show how ineffectual this leadership is in creating lasting change” Richard Jurin.
The solution is for us all to claim our personal sovereignty and change the system in our image, not theirs. “The real question isn’t whether the people are capable of governing themselves, but whether they’ve been taught to think for themselves. A population that cannot distinguish truth from persuasion will always be vulnerable to those that master the art of influencing it. Genuine freedom requires more than the right to vote. It requires Intellectual sovereignty, personal accountability, critical thinking, and the courage to question the very institutions and ideologies that claim to represent us” Joseph Keel.
To Be Continued …………..
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