Let’s choose information and verify it

As the Internet spread and individual people can send messages, how many people verify the information they receive?

How do you use the Internet? You can get information whenever you want to. As the Internet spread and individual people can send messages, how many people verify the information they receive? Most people may receive as it is truth.

Well, it is often said choosing information is important, but getting the answer that is much to the point is difficult. The basic may not have changed. It is not that recent that information is everywhere. I use news on TV as an example, but don’t misunderstand. I’m not saying that news on TV is false.

Many people are watching news on TV. Most of them are probably receiving the information as is. For example, recent news in Japan says China and Korea are occupying Japanese territory. But we can’t forget to think if it is true or false.

The primal object for Japanese media is to make money. It is important for them to attract the viewers’ interests. The Media chooses priorities of which news from all over the world the viewers want to see.

It is highly possible that media leads public opinion. The reason is because everyone can watch news no matter how educated they are or how deeply they know about the news itself. This is an advantage and disadvantage.

Is that news true? It is the viewers who decide, but most of them don’t decide and receive it as truth. Actually, there is no step to decide. I strongly recommend “Let’s know that we know nothing” for more details about this.

To decide is to verify. You verify if the news is true or not. The most definite way is to do it yourself or to go to that place, but it is not practical. We say the earth is globular without verifying. Be noticed that. The next definite way is to rely on your experience. “Don’t I face to this before?” “What would I do if he were me?” Thinking these changes your way to watch news.

Good way to increase your experience is to go outside of your country. Things usual in your country become not usual there. You can experience that something true was not that true. I recommend visiting Japan. Japan is way unique to other countries. Services which are too much polite, train systems which can’t be late even for one minute, the social tolerance toward adults who use Hello Kitty stuff – they can totally change your common sense! Japan is located on the side of the map, having no land connection with other countries and therefore Japanese has unique language system. Even they don’t have big property nor natural resources, Japan is the third economic power. I don’t know any other countries like this. Conversely, if you are Japanese, your common sense will change wherever you go.

You can verify the author of that news. This is a way you can use without experience. Who is he? What is his career and background? How much does he have experience about that news?

Verifying the basis or reason of news is important too. Once you try to find them, you will know that you can’t find them in most cases.

Don’t forget that basis can add up. You may think the news highly true if you can find multiple bases. News itself has a side that can be add up one of the bases. If there are multiple people who are saying the same thing, the possibility if the news is true becomes higher.

A basis is sometimes called a proof. A proof is a basis that proves a fact. For example, on a criminal case, even if they don’t have any definite clues, the criminal can be admitted as truth if there are multiple proofs.

Think news as just news. It is just media’s statement and there is nothing more, and nothing less.

Imagine its target (readers or viewers) and its priority (what it thinks the most important). If it is a news program in the evening, the targets are housewives or students. Veracity, topicality and immediacy are well balanced. Japanese sports paper and gossips of entertainment industry target middle-aged men without education. (Drunken men wandering in dirty clothes are often carrying these papers.) Veracity is more prior to topicality and immediacy. We shouldn’t ask these papers for veracity. The important thing is to realize that there is information on different target and different priority mixed in the world.

I consider about China and Korea coming or Invading Japanese territory. I don’t care if media make news from the activist, but media is giving us impression that their activity represents all the public opinions in China and Korea. I do admit that Chinese government and Korean government recognize these activities and back them up. If not, they have to stop activities or pretend to stop activities, or say “It was regrettable that …”.  (I don’t know if they can win the next election in their country though) I don’t like Chinese and Korean government’s altitude. Especially the altitude of diplomacy of China doesn’t have elegance or propriety since they override the fact as if there were nothing. (There is culture behind. In China, if a couple has a quarrel, they never say sorry and override the quarrel as if there were nothing next day. This culture was born to save their honor. I haven’t verified if this story is true or not. I have read a Chinese language text book and a book for being an administrator in a Chinese factory. Because both books tell a similar story, I think this story is true.) On Japanese news, not only those governments but also people in those countries look supporting the activists, and let general Japanese people who can’t think news as just news make assumptions.

If you are interested in this post, following posts may be helpful.

This post is also available in: Japanese

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