Have We Lost Our Ability to Decipher What is True or False? – RiverBender.com

Within the last two months, our practices social media and website traffic severely decreased. At first, I thought it was an unfortunate accident until I did some digging.

My research led me to learn that over the summer Google and Facebook starting censoring alternative health practices in response to the recent measles outbreak scare. Although we have no mention of vaccines on our pages, both entities slowed our traffic and our internet referrals plummeted faster than my bank account during a Target run.

Now I know what youre thinking, She works in alternative medicine and mentioned the word vaccine- this article has to be about that. Although an educated assumption, I refuse to enter my bruised ego into that internet boxing ring. Instead, I want to pose a question: What has malfunctioned in our logic and reasoning to allow Google and Facebook to censor material under the assumption that they believe we no longer have the ability to decipher what is true or false?

To understand why being complacent to this kind of pseudo-censorship is dangerous, we must first understand what Intellectual Wellness is. As we all know, our country was founded on the right to freedom of speech. Yet, as much as we hold that amendment near and dear, the digital age of communication has convoluted the true intent of this right. Instead of being a foundation for advancement, its more often used to fit manipulative agendas. This is why it is vital to understand how intellectual wellness relates to our well-being as individuals and as productive members of society.

Intellectual wellness allows humans to have an open mind when encountering new ideas. It allows us to continually participate in creative and mentally stimulating activities that expand our knowledge. Having an optimal level of intellectual wellness inspires exploration. The frequent participation in activities not only encourages personal enrichment but allows the interaction of sharing skills with others.

Through interaction, one becomes more mindful and better-rounded. Also, actively participating in scholastic, cultural and community activities stimulates curiosity. Curiosity is what motivates you to try new things, think outside the box, challenge ideas and develop an overall understanding of you see the relationship between yourself, others and the environment. Right now, ask yourself this question, Do I continually learn, listen without bias and welcome new ideas?

If you fall into the category of mainstream Americans who rely on social media to stay informed, its not farfetched to conclude that there may be a large portion of people who struggle within this dimension. Either they somehow, above all common sense, have unwavering confidence that what they know must be the absolute truth or on the flip side, believe if someone in an authoritative position tells them something, it must not be questioned. Neither of these develops intellectual wellness.

I fully understand that each one of us is human and therefore imperfect by design. Not every researcher, scientist, author, politicianetc. gets it right. Yet, we champion the mavericks who fought against all odds to discover a new truth. But what is it about 2019, that makes far too many people think they have it all figured out? Is this why internet giants feel the need to protect us?

Continued superiority in the belief that we have all the answers, and theres no chance at all that we might be wrong will be our greatest downfall. Each one of us has a unique perspective that was developed through positive/negative life experiences that formed our personal beliefs and morals. The beauty of being human is that through sharing and understanding each others perspectives, we grow as individuals.

When we close off the interaction or stay in a constant state of fight or flight, intellectual wellness becomes stagnate and health suffers. If we continue to allow outside powers to decipher what is true or false we are putting our advancement as well as the health and wellness of our country in jeopardy. And with all the issues we face in society today, we simply cant afford to stop learning, questioning, challenging and evolving.

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Have We Lost Our Ability to Decipher What is True or False? - RiverBender.com