Some of the things I wish for in this life are grossly unrealistic, yet I refuse to abandon hope, because delusions can be comforting. Case in point: Wouldn’t the world be a better place if people were a bit more discriminating about what they do and do not believe?
I’m talking about embracing a healthy dose of skepticism, the kind of outlook that was, once upon a time, commonplace and habitual. Things like this: Consider the source. And this: Don’t believe everything you hear or read. And this: Assume that videos circulating on social media are doctored or fabricated or grossly misleading until proven otherwise. That Facebook clip that purports to show bumbling Detroit cops botching their response to a bank robbery? Turns out it's footage that was shot for a Chevy commercial.
I got to talking with an obviously intelligent clerk in a store yesterday. The conversation quickly turned to the weather, which has been a hot topic (so to speak) here in New England and elsewhere in the country all winter long. This guy told me, in all seriousness, that we’re in for the mother of all snowstorms here in central Maine early next week. It's supposed to be a storm of such gigantic proportions that it will wreak havoc on the region’s winter-weary denizens.
This took me aback because I had heard nothing about this looming catastrophe, so I asked the clerk how he learned about it. He said he heard it on the radio. That gave it a veneer of credibility because it implied that the information may have come from a newscast or a weather report.
“Yeah, these two guys were talking on this station I listen to in the morning,” the man said. (Uh oh. Two guys gabbing on the radio? I'm losing confidence. Fast.) “And the first guy told the other guy that we’re gonna get slammed by this huge snowstorm. And the second guy said he didn’t believe it. So the first guy said: ‘Look! It’s all right here, in this almanac.’”
Maybe Old Man Winter will be at his most sadistic next week, but now that I know who's doing the predicting, I’m not holding my breath.
I’m talking about embracing a healthy dose of skepticism, the kind of outlook that was, once upon a time, commonplace and habitual. Things like this: Consider the source. And this: Don’t believe everything you hear or read. And this: Assume that videos circulating on social media are doctored or fabricated or grossly misleading until proven otherwise. That Facebook clip that purports to show bumbling Detroit cops botching their response to a bank robbery? Turns out it's footage that was shot for a Chevy commercial.
I got to talking with an obviously intelligent clerk in a store yesterday. The conversation quickly turned to the weather, which has been a hot topic (so to speak) here in New England and elsewhere in the country all winter long. This guy told me, in all seriousness, that we’re in for the mother of all snowstorms here in central Maine early next week. It's supposed to be a storm of such gigantic proportions that it will wreak havoc on the region’s winter-weary denizens.
This took me aback because I had heard nothing about this looming catastrophe, so I asked the clerk how he learned about it. He said he heard it on the radio. That gave it a veneer of credibility because it implied that the information may have come from a newscast or a weather report.
“Yeah, these two guys were talking on this station I listen to in the morning,” the man said. (Uh oh. Two guys gabbing on the radio? I'm losing confidence. Fast.) “And the first guy told the other guy that we’re gonna get slammed by this huge snowstorm. And the second guy said he didn’t believe it. So the first guy said: ‘Look! It’s all right here, in this almanac.’”
Maybe Old Man Winter will be at his most sadistic next week, but now that I know who's doing the predicting, I’m not holding my breath.
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