Several days ago, the media quoted a key public figure saying something disturbing. His statement was meant to disturb those who heard it, but not in the way that it disturbed some individuals – including me.
The person made two statements of fact, followed by an alarming conclusion that was palatable, but entirely misleading.
In essence, the person stated that ‘A’ is next to ‘B’, and ‘C’ is next to ‘B’, so ‘A’ and ‘C’ are comparable. Technically, those statements are true in an extremely limited sense. However, the logical conclusion one would draw from those statements is that ‘A’ and ‘C’ are nearly identical, rather than concluding they share just one lone trait in common.
The problem in this instance is that ‘A’ is universally recognized as a bad thing. So in the hearer’s mind ‘C’ was guilty by association. Tragically, the sole purpose of the remark was to make ‘C’ look bad, and for the most part it worked.
But where does that leave us? Well, for the people who don’t know better, they are left with an erroneous disdain for ‘C’. And for the people who do know better, they have a heightened skepticism for what they are told.
This situation makes truth elusive. The majority are mistaken. And the minority does not know who or what to believe, since increasingly what they hear from people in authority has been purposely misleading.
I think somebody needs to be spanked, before our society collapses from corruption.
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