Fake news is like opium; the more you take it, the more addicted you become
In recent memory, it is Donald Trump that pushes the term, fake news, to the frontline. He is its victim, as he claims. But, Trump is apparently the most hated person by the media; and indeed, rarely does one read a positive story about him because it is hard to find one such story to read in the media which controls news. What is fake news? It is impossible to define fake news because the standard for definition varies with people. Then, why is it that no news, fake or otherwise, is good news? and why is it that people feed on bad news like opium and are deeply buried in it day in and day out, all around and down and above?
As psychologists hold, we have chimps within us; such a view certainly accords with our own experience and the teachings of many cultures and religions. The chimp is multiple times more powerful than the human; if not guided, it surely plays havoc in the person’s life, often turning a respected person into a criminal. Similarly, where the chimp is handled properly, examples abound that a criminal turns into an eminent judge. What sort of thing is the chimp? As we all know, jealousy, greed, ambition, quick anger, revenge etc earmark the chimp who in its natural habitat feeds on blood. With that, it is not difficult to answer the following and like questions: Does the chimp like good news that a fellow chimp becomes wealthier and wealthier, that another fellow chimp is enlightened and gets wiser and wiser, that another forest of chimps’ residence turns more and more grandiose?
Where there is money, there is blood, and vice versa. Roaming in the jungle of humanity, the chimp scavenges; carcasses are easy meal and the more rotten and smelly they are, the more prized they become and are sought after far and wide. Then, how can we control the chimp?
As with drug addicts, the occasion for drugs should be avoided as much as possible. Then, strong disciplines should be in place; but this can achieve limited goal. Get the chimp caged and it will find ways to break out. Get the drug addicts locked up and they will find ways to quench their thirst. Furthermore, fundamentally, the chimp must be fed with other delicacies rather than left in a vacuum; it needs alternatives to occupy its idleness. Gradually, the chimp crawls out of the forest, and learns to walk upright to become human. When the urge to return to the forest is strong enough, there is no force to stop it, as it has overpowering physical strength. In such a situation, get rid of as much carcasses as possible, so that when the chimp comes, there is not much left. Finishing up with whatsoever little is left, the chimp shall proceed to find delicacies; and that is the moment to lead it gently yet firmly out of the forest into civilisation; that is the moment when one long exposed and since used to polluted river suddenly relishes and drinks from clean river, and that is the moment when one is suddenly enlightened on the right choice to make when it comes to fake news. The evils keep calling from below, “come down here and I give you carcasses to feed on!” Having no ears or eyes for anything else, you now swim in the crystal clear water under the sunshine, listening to the beautiful sounds of birds and appreciating the endless gems of nature.
