On a Little Knowledge

Most of us have heard an old axiom which goes as follows: A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. It was a thoughtful statement years ago, and I think it is probably more true today than ever. Today we are subject to information…or perhaps misinformation…moment by moment throughout the day. We get multitudes of texts, tweets and sound bytes that we cannot verify, and we know of at least one candidate in the coming election who tweets false data regularly. With all the information-receiving devises at our fingertips, what are we to do? What are we to believe?

Be skeptical...

I fear that the short answers to these questions are simply to go carefully, go with eyes open and be skeptical. Even the vaunted news media are either off the mark at times or deliberately try to create influence, let alone websites that have definite agendas that are designed to “pull the wool” over as many eyes as possible!

Stand guardians...

We are going to need to be our own sentinels and stand guardians at the doors of what enters our computers and our homes. As one who was the victim of a recent computer scan (one which I should have recognized!), I can assure us all that those who would fool us are better at this than ever. So…let’s remember that if it’s too good to be true, it probably is. If it sounds interesting but is short on details, do the digging. If it is something you were doing just fine without, you probably really don’t need it.

A little attention...

I suspect I have grown cynical about a little knowledge. I think of a couple of lines from a wonderful, old musical named “Kismet,” thoroughly charming and entertaining. Running through it were these lines: “If it’s good, it will wait, if it can’t, that is fate.” Whimsical, yes, but maybe worth a little attention.

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