To the Editor:

Many Americans do not know what to believe in the messages coming from personalities operating in mass media, in government agencies, in school instruction, in smart phones’ headlines, and in statements from our elected political leadership.

We seem inundated with a tsunami of misinformation and lies.

Some continue to accept the statements and analysis made in their preferred newspapers and by chosen TV commentators. Few dare to challenge, fearing being blacklisted or being sued.

Those who continue to seek the truth are labelled terrorists or racists. There is an emerging dangerous culture that holds only their truths as self-evident. There is no room for discourse or dialogue in America. But democracy is an idea that requires and survives so long as dialogue persists. Without this critical element our Republic cannot survive.

This dangerous development has led to our current division in America. We seem to be unable to connect the dots to realize that there are forces that are intent on reducing the fundamental freedoms that we hold dear. Their tactics are effective in diminishing our desire to seek the truth necessary to gain understanding and meaning.

The search for truth is slowly becoming an illusion. In this atmosphere of confusion humans suffer from anxiety and seek addictive substances to quell their emotions. They slowly become information robots whose behavior can be controlled by persistent information indoctrination.

Some groups are challenging this indoctrination. Unfortunately there are powerful institutions unwilling to provide objective/relevant information, causing us to remain imprisoned in a jungle of misinformation. We fail to realize that our minds can learn to apply “skill analysis” from a “critical thinking platform” that can undermine the misinformation and indoctrination.

Consider and reflect and apply these skills that can become useful and effective in combatting this problem:

*Identify the elements of Partialism that often involve overlooking some important factors;

*Recognize the Quest for Absolute Truth but seeing things in only black or white aspects;

*Recognize their Egocentricity when they fail to consider other relevant points of view;

*Identify Snap Judgements as they fail to explore a situation before forming an opinion;

*Recognize their “Intelligence Trap” as they defend their positions but fail to consider other possibilities, and;

*Consider the Adversarial Thinking with their goal to polarize situations to attack different views as being wrong in order to avoid a dialogue to seek a mutual consensus.

Rudy Magnan

Newtown