Can an old dog learn new tricks? Can a 77-year old man see the light?
I had the pleasure of staying at my friend’s house in Srirangam recently. One morning, I was woken up by a loud exchange. As the debate between my friend and his son raged on, I picked up the subject in bits and pieces: diabetes, credibility, home medical remedy, quacks, gullibility, belief and trust. Not wishing to intrude, I stayed in my room. I found out later from my friend that they were arguing about a YouTube video published on a channel unburdened by repute or qualification, circulated by a person on WhatsApp with an attention-grabbing headline.
The message centred on foods that were miracle home remedies for diabetes, offering drastic reduction of sugar in the bloodstream. The father, a chronic diabetic, believed in the effectiveness of the advice and considered it risk-free because no medicine was involved. The son, concerned about the health of his dad, rightly felt that there is a lot of such news on social media whose veracity cannot be taken for granted.
The son, in this case, was right. Every day, we encounter plenty of fake news and content making the rounds from all manner of sources. We spend countless hours debating very silly opinions professed by one “expert” or the other. And it seems no family is immune to heated arguments on such petty issues. The dangers do not stop at misinformation. Social media is today rife with “news” posts with catchy titles designed to keep audiences on a Ferris wheel of content consumption, and then forwarding along so others may “benefit”. Everybody is an expert willing to proffer opinion disguised as fact and the credibility of the person producing the video is rarely, if ever, established.
We have become a distracted society, incapable of a life without screens, incapable of being bored. I have seen traffic police watching their phones while traffic goes haywire because they are busy watching mega-serials! Young students eschew their books and are busy with online games and Internet browsing.
My friend is but one of many who immerse themselves in their mobile phone first thing in the morning. We are addicted to the dopamine hits doled out by our brain! We have become victims of crazy presentations of public matters by content creators whose only aim is to seize our attention and earn money out of our subscriptions to their channels and views of their content.
I am no exception. As one who evinces an eagerness to know the day-to-day happenings in the political field, I fall prey to the inane prattle of “cell journalists” (a phrase coined to indicate those being interviewed by so-called anchors) on recent incidents, such as raids affecting a person or a party outfit. Though investigative agencies conduct their operations in private, these content creators offer sensational takes on bits of information to feed the hunger of followers like me. I have had many days where I was so engrossed in looking at my cellphone for fresh news that I have forgotten to do my daily routines and duties.
Seeing me wasting most of my time every day in viewing social media forwards, my daughter, a tech-savvy computer engineer, advised me to be wary of WhatsApp forwards, as their creators are spreading misinformation and propaganda, and of video publishers intent on generating as many views of their creations as possible. An analysis of their correctness proves invariably that there’s a small element of truth and sugar-coated assumptions of the originator make up the majority. News reports from qualified professionals with credibility, veracity, accuracy and integrity is but a distant dream in the news supplied through social media.
There was a time when print media, public television and radio were the only vehicles of getting information on the latest developments in the world. But yellow journals had existed in the past and do exist now, publishing the news with added salt and pepper with an eye on circulation. With social media replacing print media to a great extent, the onus on conveying the truth with utmost care has gone to the winds. With little oversight, too many people have too free a hand to publish drivel with only an eagerness to make some money by catching the attention of gullible citizens.
I resolved to lose my penchant for constantly looking at my cellphone. I now have more time for an active life and I am sleeping better, thanks to a dramatic reduction in the blue light my eyes face from these screens. I now read newspapers which exercise appropriate due diligence and this adequately feeds my hunger for knowledge of the news.
While it is impossible to cut out all forms of online media, it is for us to filter the fake and sensationalist ones out and look for the best, to improve our awareness of all things past and present. As Thiruvalluvar said: “Yepporul yaryar vai ketpinum apporul meypporul kaanba tharivu (Whatever be the nature of the material or object, the true wisdom is to apprehend reality in each).”
This 77-year-old man, for one, would like you to carefully evaluate what and where you consume things from.
veeyaar@gmail.com
