Summary: Warning: your google search is "customized," for the narrative you prefer<br> <br> Simple, common sense steps to personally filter out garbage info<br> <br> The quality of your conclusion is influenced by the quality of your data analysis<br> CLICK HERE for Dr. Justin McBrayer's latest book<br> <br> <br> The McAlvany Weekly Commentary<br> with David McAlvany and Kevin Orrick<br> Dr. Justin McBrayer: Being A Steward Of Truth In A Fake News World<br> November 11, 2020<br> “It’s not just that we lack truth-based incentives. That would be bad enough, but we also have perverse incentives. You have incentives to be entertained, to fit in with the people around you, to cheer for the tribe that you identify with and so forth. And those incentives are pushing against whatever limited incentive you have to get to the truth. And it makes us, unfortunately, irresponsible consumers of information.”<br> – Justin McBrayer<br> Kevin: Our guest today, Dr. Justin McBrayer, has written a book on fake news. That’s sort of the vernacular now, Dave. We all have heard this, and think we know what fake news is. But he’s actually calling us to personal responsibility and saying, “Hey, you had better check out your sources and understand why you think the way you do.<br> David: He is a philosophy professor at Fort Lewis College, a liberal arts college here in the state Colorado system, and he’s written a number of books, co-edited the companion to The Problem with Evil, which is a Blackwell’s published book. He has done “Introducing Ethics” and “Skeptical Theism”, new essays. So Beyond Fake News: Finding the Truth In A World of Misinformation is hot off the press.<br> Kevin: Well, the timing of this interview was well chosen by you, Dave, with what’s been going on, not only with the election but everything that surrounds the election.<br> David: What matters to us is tools and engagement and perspective, and we want our listeners to be able to engage in a way that is winsome. And I hope the conversation today enables you to cut through some of the chaos of the current moment and see that there are practical things that can be done to improve the situation that we see unfolding in the political sphere. And as Justin says, there is a hopeful aspect to this.<br> * * *<br> Justin, you’ve studied and taught philosophy for several decades. You’re a Fulbright scholar. You’re the Executive Director of the Society of Christian Philosophers, and play a role in administration at the liberal arts college where you teach. Apparently, ideas matter to you. I’ll assume this is one of the underlying motivations for writing the book.<br> Obviously the topic of fake news is relevant given the political context we find ourselves in. So perhaps you could start by telling us what you think is at stake today, with a 24-hour news cycle, with a constant bombardment with information from both traditional and nontraditional sources, and an electorate that is stepping into the fray either more or less informed.<br> Justin: Sure. Yes, I’m interested in ideas because ideas have consequences. What people believe alters the actions they take every day. It changes how people vote. It changes how people buy. It changes how people interact with their family members. So as a philosopher I’m intensely interested in ideas, and it turns out that it’s getting harder and harder to sort ideas or to evaluate ideas, and in particular, harder and harder to try to figure out what’s true because our world is getting ever more complex.<br> This matters in our personal lives, but it also matters for the political body as a whole. When we’re thinking about a democracy, a place where people are supposed to have the power, if you strip those people of knowledge, you’re stripping them of power. And so if we want our democracy to be functional, we have to make it the kind of place where citizens can find the truth,
