Searching for the truth in a Misinformation Age

Disclaimer: The following words are in no way an attempt to sway anyone politically. This is simply an article regarding how to help friends and family who have fallen prey to conspiracy theories and/or misinformation … to help them learn how to free themselves when they have fallen for falsehoods. To take my words as promoting any politcal party over another is to take them wrongly. I am not associated with any political party. I don’t do politics. I only seek the truth. As a writer, I simply strive to help us all better seek the truth.

Too many Americans have somehow become consumed - even obsessed - with spreading unfounded fears and fake news. Conspiracy theories spread faster than the bubonic plague did in the old days these days. Succumbing to such unfounded nonsense won’t usually kill us as directly as did the Black Death. But in doing so, we could lose something absolutely integral to the continuation of the greatest democracy the world has ever seen - we could lose sight of the truth.

What can be done to help our loved ones and friends who have fallen for completely unfounded misinformation/disinformation/conspiracy theories?

Before I offer some coping strategies, allow me to share here a few examples of some popular conspiracy theories that I have personally heard, straight from the mouths of friends of mine.

In the words of one friend: “Ben, the COVID vaccines that millions took was really just a way for the government to control us more. The government was actually implanting nanotechnology microchips into our bodies so they can alter our DNA and monitor our every move. We must always resist these vaccines.”

The words of another friend: “Ben, the last presidential election was fraudulently manipulated on a massive scale to produce the outcome it did. It does not matter that not a single court in all the land found any evidence that the outcome was affected by voter fraud. Why? Because all the courts were unwittingly in on the scheme, too. They were the victims of mind control that is being generated from the hidden deep state that exists within this country. And guess what? The same secretive manipulation of our votes is about to happen in this coming election cycle yet again.”

Another friend: “Ben, many politicians in Congress are secretly pedophiles. I know this because I read about it from a news source I receive that is not fake and is not afraid to speak the real truth that most people never get to hear. Our government no longer speaks the real truth. A group of us truth seekers called QAnon seek to battle against the devil worshipping pedophiles who secretly control the government, Hollywood, big business, social platforms, and the media. We must take our country back. Now. Come join us.”

And yet another: “Ben, the deep state government is canceling our White culture and heritage. They do not want a White America anymore. All our history is being rewritten to prepare us for a Black and Brown future, where Whites will have no rights. It is racism in reverse. Whites are the victims. Especially Whites who live far away from big cities. Like me. Like you.”

And finally: “Ben, you know the Haitian immigrants in Springfield Ohio really are eating the cats and the dogs.”

(I almost drove up to Springfield myself this past week to personally investigate the eating cats and dogs claim. But alas, I ultimately conjured up enough sense not to waste my time. I don’t have a lot of time left in this world. And I don’t won’t to use even a minute of it chasing after complete nonsense.)

I have found that most of my friends who have fallen for misinformation honestly believe that the unproven nonsense they are passing on to others is actually true. (Misinformation becomes disinformation only when one knowingly passes on false information.) Until they prove otherwise, I always give my misinformed friends the benefit of the doubt. It seems to me that most of my friends are usually led down rabbit holes “in good faith”, and not by sinister intent (much unlike those who originally create the disinformation).

However, we need to keep in mind that whether it be termed misinformation or disinformation, the far-reaching negative and eroding effect on our democracy and its revered institutions is the same, either way.

It seems like a new and wildly popular conspiracy theory springs up every day now, spreading faster than any biological plague ever did, infecting tens of millions of Americans almost instantly. Many who read these words will no doubt have been led to leap headfirst down a blind rabbit hole or two. It can happen to any of us.

If possible, I try to lure an affected friend away (to distract them, at least for a moment) from all the constant and highly addictive media bombardment they are receiving regarding bogus theories and misinformation.

Think about it; if these types of things are pretty much all one ever sees on the news, hears about, or reads about … then little wonder one falls prey. I will even go so far as to say this would most certainly happen to me too, if such things were all I ever watched, heard about, or read! (In fact, I have had it happen to me - being misled by disinformation I took as being true simply because it was so popular - and it has happened to me more than once.)

Whenever a conspiracy theory or misinformation “takes a hold” on us, it becomes like a highly addictive drug. Indeed, we must go through a stage of painful withdrawal to come back from it.

Will the tens of millions of us who are currently being deeply duped by powerfully persuasive misinformation and disinformation ever be able to clearly see the truth again?