#42: What are the responsibilities of an educated person? (University of Puget Sound)
Today, media broadcasts news for global audiences. But does this news resemble more closely an objective analysis or a subjective analysis? One great responsibilities of an educated person is to ask whether the news they read and hear is based on objective facts or subjective views.
Most people think of news as the factual story of what is going on in the world. Few would say that the news is a script produced by businessmen seeking ratings and profits, although this is an uncontroversial fact that is hard to deny. Most people either accept what they see in the media as facts or cynically dismiss everything they hear as propaganda. From these two extremes, an educated person should discover what is factual and what is not.
Media display flashy images, scandalous revelations, and sound bites devoid for context. Journalists interpret and explain the news for us, encouraging us to sit quietly rather than think. An Educated person must view this programming with a skeptical eye so that the viewer can better understand what is real and what is merely opinion.
There is a power in information. Information can unite or fracture, confirm or shake previously held beliefs. An educated person must pursue the truth by asking questions and resisting the urge to accept every image flashed before them.
Education teaches us to analyze situations from multiple angles whenever possible. A true educated person who have embrace the moral value of critical thinking will apply that to the world around them, treating every bit of news only as a piece of information open to debate and intense analysis.
No comments:
Post a Comment