There's a lot of gossip and hearsay in the world. There are also a lot of people who depend on other people to deliver them information. Whether they rely on news or actually delegate people to go out and find details, the more stops between the source and yourself, the more the data is likely to be skewed. Remember the old telephone game made recently famous by the Oreo Cakester ad where the boy ends up with the message "Billy has his first chest hair" instead of "Billy has an oreo cakester".
Recent events in my life have been 'exciting'. People have wanted to know details about them. Some of those people ask people who know me instead of asking me themselves. A few weeks ago when someone asked my father about me, I told him they should ask me. Since then, he has deferred them to me.
For the past several months, I have argued a lot with people who like Glenn Beck. I am glad he has inspired them to read, but his books are filtered access to information from first sources. Most of the people I know who have read Beck's books (I haven't read anything he wrote) have decided they don't need to actually read first source material. They rely on Beck's interpretation. Last week, a friend of mine asked me where I got the "Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God" seal on my blog because Beck is using it for his online university. I told him that it was Franklin's suggestion for the Great Seal of the United States. So far as I know, Beck uses it without attribution.
If you want to know something, ask the source. We got in the bad habit in school on tests when questions asked us to read a passage and then tell the testator what the author was thinking. I always thought it was more relevant to ask the author than to ask me. I didn't after all write the passages. If you want to know something, ask the first source. They have all the details, in context, with supporting material. Some of them may lie, but at least then the news reaches you without a bunch of filters through other people. If you want to know something about me, ask me. Don't ask my relatives, my friends, my coworkers, my enemies or people who have never met me. To me it makes more sense to ask me.
Recent events in my life have been 'exciting'. People have wanted to know details about them. Some of those people ask people who know me instead of asking me themselves. A few weeks ago when someone asked my father about me, I told him they should ask me. Since then, he has deferred them to me.
For the past several months, I have argued a lot with people who like Glenn Beck. I am glad he has inspired them to read, but his books are filtered access to information from first sources. Most of the people I know who have read Beck's books (I haven't read anything he wrote) have decided they don't need to actually read first source material. They rely on Beck's interpretation. Last week, a friend of mine asked me where I got the "Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God" seal on my blog because Beck is using it for his online university. I told him that it was Franklin's suggestion for the Great Seal of the United States. So far as I know, Beck uses it without attribution.
If you want to know something, ask the source. We got in the bad habit in school on tests when questions asked us to read a passage and then tell the testator what the author was thinking. I always thought it was more relevant to ask the author than to ask me. I didn't after all write the passages. If you want to know something, ask the first source. They have all the details, in context, with supporting material. Some of them may lie, but at least then the news reaches you without a bunch of filters through other people. If you want to know something about me, ask me. Don't ask my relatives, my friends, my coworkers, my enemies or people who have never met me. To me it makes more sense to ask me.
No comments:
Post a Comment