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Seeking Truth

James Altucher's recent podcast episode with Norm Dworman hits on a variety of topics but the essence of the episode is really in the last fifteen minutes where they discuss the tone of the world, censorship and what the next steps are.

Just the other day, I was asked about choosing sides and it was a very difficult decision. Not because it's a right/left scenario but rather that there are no true right vs left sides anymore. It's all personal attacks and very little ideas. Politics is no longer a debate or discussion on ideas but more personal conflicts. Social media simply amplifies this and the more the amplification is reported on, the worse it gets. We live in a world where media businesses care about eyeballs and since most people want to watch a train wreck, so that's what they put on the air. They mix fact and fiction ("based on a true story, mostly) and people believe it as fact. I have a rough time thinking of past leaders (Churchill, Thatcher, even Reagan) and how they would fare in such a climate.

Maybe that's why the podcast resonated with me. You can listen to it or you can just read the last few pieces of the link where James writes out:

A + B + C = Punish those who should be punished. Follow the law and verify the truth.

I was asked what I believe in. After some reflection, I thought of Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand and Aristotle and said "the truth". It's no longer a right v. left because neither side can claim they even follow the truth.  Maybe that's why programming and engineering makes so much sense - there's no wiggle room, even if you try to define True=False.

(aside: What is law? Laws should be based on truths such as no one person can make more of a claim to the truth than another)

I recently "tried" to invest in Civil (which I found from ZigZag) and still try to support it, unless its support for journalism starts to veer towards opinion rather than fact.



The truth may need to be uncovered and it can take time. But in the end, if you don't believe in the truth, then what is the alternative?
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