Opinion

Editor’s Column: Why do we believe what we believe?

Voltaire, writer and philosopher during the French Enlightenment, said, “Anyone who has the power to make you believe absurdities has the power to make you commit injustices.”

Who has that power over you?

It’s a question we all need to ask ourselves. Who has power over us to make us believe anything? What voices do we trust, and why do we trust them?

As I wrote last week, a lot of what we believe is tangled up in family history and traditions. We first learn to trust our immediate family, and we tend to believe what they say implicitly. I long believed state patrol officers were mean. A year or two listening to the scanner has given me clear comprehension as to why troopers sometimes come across as cranky. I’d be annoyed—and so would you—if you kept having to clean up accidents and talk to the families of victims of careless, selfish drivers who speed, drink and drive, text and drive, eat and drive, and otherwise don’t pay much attention to driving. It’s enough to make a cheery person downright grim.

We tend to believe people we perceive as having more education and more experience. This is normal. It makes sense to trust someone who has been through eight or 10 years of schooling to get a valued degree, or someone who has 20 or 30 years of experience in a particular field. That’s why we listen to our doctors and our mentors. If I have questions about something in my life, I try to seek out people I know with expertise in that field, whether it’s essential oils or business ethics.

And so we come to the news. When I was a kid the news took up a deathly dull half hour or hour in the evening, usually during dinner. Then the news ended and we had a game show or two, followed by regular prime time programming, which back in the day was pretty light-hearted, at least until 9 o’clock, when “sexy” shows like the Love Boat and Dynasty aired. We didn’t have cable (living in a rural area, we had three channels on a good day), so we didn’t know about CNN when it came out in 1980.

Here’s what I didn’t realize then that I see now… While there was still only an hour or so of actual news on which to report every day, CNN figured out how to stretch that hour into 24 advertising-supported hours. They did it partly by repetition (repetition is the motor of learning, you know) and partly by inserting hours upon hours of pundit testimony about whatever was going on at the time, whether a bombing or a plane crash. Fox News came along in 1996 (it’s barely a year older than my youngest kid) and copied CNN’s business model, only with even more opinion-based programming.

What’s a pundit, you ask? Someone who is an “expert” in a field and can be called upon to share his or her opinions. No one seems to bother to verify if a pundit is actually an expert, or really defines what an expert is, either.

That’s what’s so disconcerting about the quote from Voltaire. Are we giving pseudo-experts power over what we believe because we’re solely plugged in to Fox, CNN, MSNBC or any of the other corporate media megalodons? And if we’re giving them power, what injustices are we committing as a result?

Why do we believe what we believe?

Please say it’s not because we saw something online or on cable news or because grandma said so. Accessing truth has to go beyond the easy sources of social media, TV news and myopic family traditions.

***

Happy 29th anniversary Monday to my husband, Pat. I keep wondering how we got this old, don’t you?

***

We have an early deadline for next week’s paper, as Caitlin Walker and I are headed to Denver for the annual Colorado Press Association convention. Not having to cook, clean or make the bed makes it a vacation, as far as I’m concerned, even if it is work-related. Keep in mind the paper will be going to the printer early Wednesday morning, instead of Wednesday afternoon!

By Niki Turner | [email protected]

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It’s getting late, do you know where your kids are? Read all the Rio Happenings for this week in print or online at ht1885.com.
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Mormon crickets have hatched near Rangely. They were all sighted on BLM land north of Hwy. 64 near the junction of CR 96 and CR 1, down a dirt road near the Moffat County line.  The picture shown was taken yesterday by Mary Meinen from Rangely. She says the crickets are about the size of a ladybug (less than 1/2”). Some of them are actually yellow in color but most of them are darker. They are milling around and getting ready to start moving soon. Note: Photo is not to scale.
Rio Blanco County and the White River and Douglas Creek Conservation Districts are still asking for your help to identify additional hatch-outs of crickets so that control efforts can be put in place. The success of the program will highly depend upon local landowners and the public helping to locate crickets as soon as they hatch.  See last week’s paper for a list of ways to help or contact the County Weed & Pest District at 970-878-9670 or the Conservation District office at 970-878-9838 with any questions. Website: www.WhiteRiverCD.com
Mormon crickets have hatched near Rangely. They were all sighted on BLM land north of Hwy. 64 near the junction of CR 96 and CR 1, down a dirt road near the Moffat County line. The picture shown was taken yesterday by Mary Meinen from Rangely. She says the crickets are about the size of a ladybug (less than 1/2”). Some of them are actually yellow in color but most of them are darker. They are milling around and getting ready to start moving soon. Note: Photo is not to scale. Rio Blanco County and the White River and Douglas Creek Conservation Districts are still asking for your help to identify additional hatch-outs of crickets so that control efforts can be put in place. The success of the program will highly depend upon local landowners and the public helping to locate crickets as soon as they hatch. See last week’s paper for a list of ways to help or contact the County Weed & Pest District at 970-878-9670 or the Conservation District office at 970-878-9838 with any questions. Website: www.WhiteRiverCD.com
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A crew from the Flat Tops Chapter of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation joined forces last summer to remove obsolete fences to improve habitat for wildlife. Read the full story and the foundation’s update from their 30th Anniversary meeting in this week’s edition and online at ht1885.com.
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Cowboy Carson Klinzmann on the mound for Meeker at Suplizio Field in Grand Junction last Saturday. Meeker took on the 4A Rifle Bears, losing 11-1, and the Basalt Longhorns, losing 7-3. Read the recap online at ht1885.com.
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