How do we find Truth

[Dr Q]

I am frustrated by the current political climate, which is getting ever more partisan, even to the point of spawning alternate realities.  By alternate reality, I mean a closed world with its own set of "alternative facts" contradicting what I believe are the true facts, its own channels of information, and barriers to intrusion of real facts and contrary opinions.  As you can see from what I have said already, I believe there is only one reality, and it exists independent of what anyone wants to believe.  I am also tolerant of other people's beliefs, and will try to avoid being disrespectful in any discussion.

I have no first-hand experience in most of the issues I debate online.  Like everyone else, I get my information from TV and the Internet.  So how do we know what to believe?

[Dr Q]

Here is a discussion between myself and a neighbor who has radically different ideas than mine.  It started on a neighborhood forum, but before we could get into any depth the discussion was blocked by an admin of the forum.  Facebook groups are really a very poor forum for political discussions.  Even without the censorship by the group admins, it is nearly impossible to carry on an extended discussion.  Where is that link I just posted?  It was there yesterday.  I guess I need to post it again.  We seem to be going in circles.

LV shared a link.

March 28 at 7:53 AM

For those who have commented on here that this is a “hyped up virus” and not wanting to comply with orders coming down to self-quarantine... This is just one example out of thousands upon thousands...

Kious Kelly, 48, died at Mount Sinai West hospital in Manhattan on Tuesday night, a week after he was admitted upon testing positive for coronavirus. He was an assistant nursing manager.

DAILYMAIL.CO.UK

Worker NYC hospital where staff wore TRASH BAGS dies at 48

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Comments

David: For those who are claiming this is fake news, do you have any evidence to support this claim? Did you click on the "info" icon to verify the source? Did you do a simple search to see how other news outlets are coving the story?

https://www.nytimes.com/.../nurse-dies-coronavirus-mount...

NYTIMES.COM

A N.Y. Nurse Dies. Angry Co-Workers Blame a Lack of Protective Gear.

SJ: David,
Were you there when he died?

David: SJ No I was not there, but if I were, would you believe me? Probably not. I am just one person you don't know.

We all rely on TV and the Internet for our news. We all have seen fake news, and I do mean real fakes, not Trump's new definition of "fake". The fakes are getting much more sophisticated and not easy to spot.

So how do we know what to believe? Do you ever click on the "info" icon to check a source? Do you ever search for corroborating evidence? On this story, a simple Google search showed several other news outlets with the same story, including the NY Times article I linked above. There is also a video of Andrew Cuomo, governor of New York, expressing condolences for the family of this heroic nurse.

SJ:   David,
"Research" is my middle name.

Don't think for one second that I didn't look for more evidence to support this news story.
I looked.
All I found was a repeat of the same information on various different media outlets that I don't trust.
I didn't expect to find more than that. Why would I?
The media is all biased, one way or another.

David: So how is it that they can all coordinate on the same story? Bias yes, but getting all the details to line up, and doing it simultaneously, that seems to me not possible.

What is your basis for assuming the story is false?

SJ: You honestly believe that they are not capable of coordinating which news stories to release simultaneously?
I don't trust the world powers, nor the media.
That is my basis.

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At this point, the discussion was blocked by an admin. My reply would have been:

What I believe is that it would be impossible to get thousands of journalists and medical workers involved in a conspiracy to publish a fake news article like this, even if you believe the worst about their motivations and integrity. Think about it. How would just the organizations cited so far (DailyMail,co.uk, NYtimes.com, and Andrew Cuomo's office) how would you get them to coordinate on all the details of this story? Who would be the leader of this conspiracy? How would you keep some low-level staff person or a reporter with high ideals, just out of journalism school, how would you keep these people from leaking the conspiracy?

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SJ and I continued the discussion via private messages, but it went nowhere. I concluded that she is committed to her beliefs, and doesn't have any information or sources that would support the claim that the article is a fake.

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Why is it that people are so committed to their beliefs? Why is it that contrary facts are so threatening? With a few notable exceptions, everyone seems to agree that there is only one reality, and that "alternative facts" are not facts. There is just no agreement on how to determine what is true, and active resistance to even discussing how to find the truth.