ZTC OER Stipend

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Browsing ZTC OER Stipend by Author "Fisher, Sarah"

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    How to find truth online
    (2024) Fisher, Sarah
    This textbook is intended to be used as a guide or an instruction manual on the path to finding the truth. As such, it can be useful either in the classroom or in everyday life, as a helpful guidebook for use during your search for the truth online. This book is written in a way the allows for the reading of the entire volume, and I encourage you to read it in its entirety, although it can be read and applied in sections as well. The sections and assignments within each chapter are designed to be useful either in the order they are written, or they can be utilized as individual exercises or assessments to practice finding the truth online. In this book, we look at mass communication theory and apply examples from throughout history, to walk through how to search, find and hold on to truthful information found in the online realm. In the dizzying maze of online information today, it can be daunting to know where to look for the truth online and how to find and recognize truthful information. First though, I want to note that this book may not be for everyone. It is for everyone who wants to know the truth, but sadly, everyone may not want to know the truth. Or perhaps some people may not want the truth to be known by others. There are many who seem to not want the truth about a specific issue or topic to be known by others. But I would ask, is there anyone who actually does not want to know the truth for themselves? I have yet to find someone who regularly wants to be deceived or persuaded without knowing it. There are those who would like someone to lie to them (at least temporarily) about such temporal matters as how that dress looks on them, or whether they look their age, or whether their favorite team is projected to win the championship, or whether they passed that exam… we have probably all had moments when we want to cover our ears and exclaim “No, don’t tell me!” or when we want to hear what we wish was true, “Sure, tell me what I want to hear.” But in the end, we are not likely to want to continue being deceived unless we choose to, and only when we choose to go without the truth. We want to have the option of hearing the truth if or when we want to, and in my experience it seems that most people want to have the option of access to the truth (at least for most topics). I have noticed an inconsistency among those seeking truth: some people who do not want others to know the truth, still want to have access to the truth for themselves. It seems that people feel it is their personal right to have access to the truth, whether or not they want others to also have access to the truth. The Golden Rule, “Do to others what you would have them do to you,” is a good practice to live by. Do you want to have access to the truth? Then allow others to have access also. Do you want to be able to seek out the truth by hearing both sides of a debate? Then allow others to have that access to the truth as well.