Oh goodness you guys. Kit has been a real peach lately.
Nothing out of the ordinary… just a good case of the three year olds.
We had a nice little temper tantrum on the floor of the Aldi checkout line today in fact. And we were stuck in between a line of carts so there was no escaping. I just had to grit my teeth, do my thing, and avoid eye contact at all costs.
Afterwards I asked Kit if she realized her temper tantrums embarrass mommy (I know, before you pass judgment, I’m aware that, that question will probably put her in therapy later on in life), and she responded with:
“Oh! It’s okay mommy” (for those of you who watch the Bachelor who does that remind you of?… eeees okay).
Well as long as we’ve got that cleared up.
But Kit’s, well, humanness lately has gotten me thinking about human nature.
I find it interesting that when presented with the option to be rational or irrational, more often than not she/we choose to be irrational.
It’s like we’re all still stuck in three year old land… where irrationality and self service abound.
David and I were talking about this the other night, and we’ve pretty much come to the conclusion that the rise of Facebook (and other social media outlets) seems to have only increased these tendencies for us humans (thankfully the non humans are doing quite well #joke).
At face value, it seems like it would have done the opposite. After all, we’re all now able to be exposed to countless differing opinions. It should make us more able to empathize with others, even though we may not agree on every point. At any point in time we can access the feelings and thoughts of almost any other culture in the world. This should give us a much more diverse world view.
and yet…
it seems to have done the exact opposite. Instead of using Facebook as a tool to diversify, it’s actually caused people to hunker down and cling even tighter to the opinions and worldviews they’ve always held.
It’s exasperated the problem of irrationality and self service.
And you know why?
Because people are no longer listening to one of a few news stations. And yes, news is always biased, but at least it was held accountable to certain standards. Now anyone, anywhere can write a “news” article, and claim it as truth without any consequences. And Mr. Joe over here finds that “news” article and says wow! I’ve been right all along!.
And we’ve all seen where this kind of thinking has taken us.
I’m not trying to be political here, but I do think it’s important to be aware of this phenomenon and to really think critically about the content that you’re consuming.
There has even been content that I’ve found in the ethical fashion and minimalism worlds that reeks of irrationality and self service.
My point with all of this, is that it’s so easy to get sucked into the Facebook conundrum (as I like to call it). It’s so easy to consume content mindlessly and suddenly find yourself swayed towards something you might not usually be swayed towards. It’s easy to assume that your favorite author or blogger or writer will never, ever be wrong. It’s easy to only listen to people who have the same viewpoints as you do.
One of the things that I listed in my 2018 resolutions was that I wanted to listen to more challenging podcasts, and this is exactly why. I want to be better about consuming content that I disagree with, that challenges me to really think about why I believe things and causes me to be more sympathetic to those who differ from me.
So here’s my challenge to you (and to myself): be mindful. Think about what you’re reading… if it seems off, research it. If it sounds too good to be true, look into why that is. If someone is claiming a statistic, find out where they got it from. Don’t just buy into a way of life because someone cool has: do some soul searching and figure out if it’s right for you.
And exercise the right to hide content from your view if it turns out to be crummy content. You don’t have to consume everything, just because it’s right in front of you.
Including Truncation. Although I hope you’ll stay. 😉
What do you think? Have you found yourself getting sucked into the Facebook conundrums? Have any good podcasts to recommend?
Outfit Details:
Black Sweater: Thrifted | Ethical Option | Non Wool Option | Affordable Option
Gray Denim: AG | Affordable Option
Comfy Sneakers: Adidas | Ethical Option
Until next time,
Great post! I agree that it seems people have stopped listening to each other and have become so polarized in many aspects of life (politics, parenting, religion etc) that it is tough to have an open, constructive discussion. I know I don’t read nearly enough and use social media probably too much and I should be more cognizant of my sources, so thanks for the food for thought! I totally relate with the 3 year old struggles. I feel exhausted from all the battles as of late. Hang in there!
It IS so hard to have a discussion because so many people have zero interest in growing or learning. It saddens me! The battles are so bad aren’t they! Hang in there too!
Agreed!
I’ve been more mindful/conscious of what I read. It if doesn’t feel right or I feel badly, they are out of my feed or I no longer follow them on Instagram. I love social media but it is also a distraction from so much good stuff.
That’s great Stefanie! I agree with you… there’s so much to love, but we just have to be more mindful about filtering out the bad!
Such an important topic to think about! My husband decided to quit Facebook years ago for this very reason and luckily for me (well, luckily for my personal growth) he always holds me accountable for my sources when I come at him with, “Guess what I heard…” There have been many times when I had to admit my source was not a great one.
My son turns 2 next week and his tantrums are starting to get serious so I feel your pain! Sending you strength and patience!
Good for your husband! David and I both try to do this for each other. It’s definitely a good exercise in thinking through where your information is coming from! And good luck! Hopefully you’ll be able to get through them fairly easily!
I listen to mostly true crime podcasts and silly stuff but a favorite of mine is Reveal with Al Letson (https://www.revealnews.org/episodes/). They dig deep on various topics and frequently do update pods when they get additional information. I highly recommend it.
I haven’t listened in a while but ProPublica has a podcast called The Breakthrough. On the ones I listed to they broke down how reporters got their information and what they went through to verify it. Good stuff to be aware of when reading news in general.
Thanks for the recommendations! Those sound like really interesting podcasts! What true crime podcasts do you listen to?
For true crime my favorites are Undisclosed, Someone Knows Something, and Up and Vanished.
Undisclosed analyzes cases where the wrong person might be in jail for a crime. The first season is about Adnan Sayed but way more in-depth than Serial was. They also did a really great series on the killing of Freddie Gray.
Someone Knows Something is done by CBC’s David Ridgen. He tries to solve old cases. The first two seasons are unsolved Canadian cases. Season 3 is audio from a documentary he did a few years back. He tries to bring justice for two young black men killed in the south by Klansmen. It is so heartbreaking and uplifting at once.
Up and Vanished investigates the disappearance of Tara Grinstead from GA back in 2005. The amazing part is they get people to bring forward new information.
OOOH thanks! Those sound really interesting! I still have to check out Serial, but I love the idea of listening to these when I’m at the gym!