The Information of Errors

The state of how people obtain information and what they do with it has started to disturb me. In the age of the information superhighway, it's possible to have a world of knowledge at your fingertips. It's a great deal of power to have on your side, especially for those of us that can remember when you couldn't check on the arguments for Cosmological theory in a split second on Google and you had to look up articles in a library. Possibly on microfilm or some other horrific precursor that predated our beloved friend and partner in academia, the Internet.

Back in the day, to use a phrase, you could only have access to the opinions of those that were in your immediate zip code or metropolitan area. Knowing what Larry the Blogger in New Mexico thought regarding the breeding habits of the Whiptail Lizard (it's the state reptile, seriously, look it up) could only be enjoyed by those in his part of the country. Now, it's possible for people from Maine to Outer Mongolia to come to understand the wonders of this fascinating reptilian specimen.

Not that I have a problem with Larry who writes about his favorite animal, it's just that for his nine to five job he's a clerk at an AM/PM outside of Santa Fe on Interstate 25 and hasn't spent five minutes in a classroom studying biology or any of the thousand other things you have to know to become a traditional expert on wildlife.

This type of thing begs the question, do you have to be professionally trained to become an expert, professional or casual, in your field of interest? It all comes down to whom you trust. If you can take the opinion or what could be construed as fact from Larry, and that's good enough for you and millions of other blog readers, then that could show the beginnings of a sea change in how people gather and process information.

My Grandfather used to bird watch and would log all sorts of interesting facts and habits of birds indigenous to South Dakota, where I'm from. Now imagine if he also had the ability to wield the power of the internet (which he doesn't, for the record) and present his findings as fact. "The Hooded Merganser only comes to feed on every third day. It must be so that it only needs to feed two times per week," he could write. Is a residential backyard with a bird feeder and a birdbath a scientifically acceptable controlled environment?

Imagine a seventh grader in Seattle doing a report in his or her science class on birds of the Midwest, and using my Grandpa's blog site as a credible source. What sort of grade do you think they would get? This is presupposing any legitimate schoolteacher would allow such nonsense, but play along. Shouldn't the information detailed in this report come from say an encyclopedia where the information is somewhat dry and boring but undeniably accurate? Or should my 74-year-old Grandpa and former regional manager of a Cummins Diesel Truck dealership be the beacon of information? Sure, the text in an encyclopedia is not as colorful as the wit and candor of good old Grandpa, however I'm certain it has more quality information where the child could gather it all in and come up with an opinion of their own, thus achieving a higher grade.

This is the problem we face. Taking the easy road and trusting someone else's word for it is what we are seemingly shifting toward. When you read someone else's opinion, it's unfair to say that you, the reader or listener, cannot dissect what they are saying and form some variation of it on your own. However, it is a passive way of ignoring what some see as the big issue at hand. While reading opinion as your sole source of information can be fun and enjoyable it leaves little time for critical thought. To not have time for facts is to not have time to create your own ideas and opinions.

It's not news to most people that the newspaper industry as we know it is dying a slow and painful death. It hasn't completely fallen by the wayside, however the people that get their information from traditional print journalism aren't getting any younger. Facts and interesting stories with depth are being condensed to give way for larger advertisements for Verison Wireless or Macy's so papers like the Kansas City Star can sustain themselves and be somewhat viable. Should we sacrifice facts so we can write in a more appealing way to my generation? I'm not so sure that facts and details are so expendable. They way we write? Sure. Leaving out the important stuff? Not so much.

I'm not saying don't read blogs, or the opinions of others, because if you just take my word for it you probably missed the point of this entire piece. Go out and be receptive to anything you can get your hands on. No one ever regressed in intelligence because they had too much information. Getting out there and being able to recognize was is fact or fiction equips you to know what is right for you. Letting someone else do that for you could be one of the biggest mistakes you could make.

Mission Accomplished?

I'm writing this on the eve of what is building to be one of the most historic days in American history. At least so I'm told. Today, in remembrance and celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., is a day to reflect on the struggles of the oppressed minority in our country and to do what we all can do to make our world a little better than how we found it. Taking one day out of the year to try and better and repair centuries of bitter racial divides is clearly not enough. However the formation of the day itself marks the recognition of a step in the right direction.

There is still work to be done. Not only on trying to mend a broken relationship between races in the United States, but on erasing the lines that keep us apart. We all hold unique and special traits among ourselves as individuals and as descendants of differing nationalities. Reaching out and coming together by identifying what makes us, well us, and not necessarily trying to erase those distinctions to live free but rather accepting them for what they are and realizing we're not all that different underneath it all. This seems to be the objective of a different, and not necessarily new, generation of people clamoring for something they are not used to.

Tomorrow when President-Elect Barack Hussein Obama becomes the 44^th President of the United States of America, it will signal a change throughout the presidential history in our country. Never has a person that is not a white male, who was also not of meager means, been elected into one of the most powerful offices in the free world. For those who support Mr. Obama it will be a time of hope and optimism. For those that didn't cast their vote for the former U.S. Senator it will be a time of initial criticism and a game of wait-and-see.

Whether you support the man or not, we as citizens are called on to support the office. Our country is facing what seems to be dire consequences from many problems that most cannot identify. At least specifically. Leaving most people I talk to confused and unable to ascertain what is going to happen next. Whether it affects your livelihood or the livelihood of those around you, to say we live in a giant uncertainty is a gross understatement.

Will those that support Mr. Obama, and even to a larger extreme those that revere him before stepping foot in the White House, be able to temper their ideas a promise of hope and change? Will those who despise the fact that he has ascended to the Office of the President be patient enough to see his policies through? Or will they pile on and start the campaign for 2012 before the first 100 days have been completed? It seems the old credo of “what's so funny about peace, love and understanding?” aren't just lyrics in an Elvis Costello song. I've also heard that patience is a virtue.

Using a presidential election as a metaphor for racial change is just one of the many aspects on what will take place tomorrow, or what has already taken place by the time most of you read this. On a symbolic level, something has been accomplished and for that we should take a moment to be proud of it. However, our time to stand back and admire what has happened has a short window attached to it.

Right now we face real problems that lie beyond the obvious racial divisions in our country. A weakening dollar and manufacturing industry. A crumbling banking empire. A military complex that grows stronger as those who provide it's dutiful service become overextended. Even the basics of holding on to your job and making ends meet is in jeopardy. So placing your hopes in one man, however noble or disingenuous you see him as, is a game that the public cannot afford to play these next four years. Change must start at a household and neighborhood level. Taking care of ourselves in our communities is what must happen in order to resurrect and save ourselves. Change shouldn't come from above, it should come from you and I.