Well, first of all, I’m not the one saying that anything is “proven.” That’s your word. I consider next to nothing “proven” to me by the internet. Or by the news media, for that matter.
So what do I base my decisions on? Well, it’s complicated. I use a variety of inputs and factors to get as close to the truth as I can.
First of all, I consider the source any time I read about or hear something. If the person reporting is a reporter for a major newspaper, he carries more credibility than Joe the Blogger. Sure, that’s not foolproof. But a newspaper reporter’s job involves journalistic integrity, and he may lose that job if he’s found to be reporting things that aren’t true. Also, they have a long history of accurate reporting. Not perfect, but usually fairly accurate. Joe the Blogger, on the other hand, has a history of making stuff up to further his cause. He’s usually got a pretty firm agenda. Again, sometimes bloggers may be right on the money. But, in general, they are somewhat unreliable.
Another major tool I use is corroboration. If one blogger says something, and then lots of relatively reliable media outlets pick it up, check it out, and corroborate it, that carries a lot of weight. If one blogger says something, and all the other bloggers that share his agenda pick it up and repeat it, that carries very little weight.
A third thing I try to do is to look at things from a historical perspective. Has this happened before? When, how, why? How does the previous incident relate to this one? What can I learn from what happened then? Did the previous 37 incidents like this one turn out to be something that Joe Blogger made up?
There are other tools I use, but my break is over and I have to get back to work. I think you get the picture, though. Trying to get close to the truth and knowing that, in the end, you have to make decisions based on less information than you’d like to have is less comfortable than the easy certitude that many people enjoy. But I think it’s my duty as a voter to base my decision on who to vote for on as much information as I can. I think that making decisions in life is the same way.
