I don’t know and I don’t care!

A young reporter had been assigned by the news director at the TV station to do one of those “man on the street” surveys. It’s one of those news reports where the reporter asks everyday people their opinion on subjects. The question for that day was, “What are the two greatest problems facing America?”

The reporter was having trouble getting people to stop and respond during the busy lunch hour. He finally got a man to stop so he could ask the question. In his best TV voice, the young reporter asked, “Sir, what do you think are the two greatest problems facing this country?” “I don’t know, and I don’t care!” snarled the man, as he hurried on his way.

It looks like that the man may have had the right answer. Ignorance and apathy are two of the greatest problems facing this country. The reality is many of us don’t know and don’t care. Since we don’t know, we can be easily manipulated by others for their own selfish purposes, and not for the greater good of all. And since we don’t care, it doesn’t matter anyway.

The truth is there is no longer any excuse for ignorance. You may not be able to afford a degree from a major college or university, but you probably have access to most of the knowledge they dispense. The local library is still around, and yes, library cards are still free. But more than that, most of us have access to the largest collection of information ever assembled in the history of man. It’s the internet, and more than likely, it’s on the desktop computer in your study, the laptop computer in your den, or on the smartphone in your pocket or purse.

The internet has become the source of all sorts of information for the majority of us. Sadly, it is often a source of useless and unreliable data. It is up to us to discard the useless and question the accuracy of the information. But the knowledge is there, and is accessible to most of us. You want to know something, you click on the Google search engine and google it. (Isn’t it funny how a noun can over time become a verb?) And most of the time the answer is there. You may have to sort through various websites and discern their reliability, but the answer, the knowledge, the information is there.

There are other resources of knowledge around us, available to us every day — newspapers, TV, and other forms of media. If we don’t know what is going on in the world, it’s our fault. Growing up, you found out what was going on nationally and around the world mainly between 6:30 and 7 p.m. daily, on the three TV networks. Today, there are various TV news networks, informing the public 24 hours a day.

But, like the internet, the TV news networks can also be a source of useless and unreliable information. Certain news networks present the news in a slanted or inaccurate way in their effort to target one particular audience for ratings and advertising dollars, or to promote a certain agenda or cause. It is important for us to be aware of that and not become prisoners of one particular news network. That way we can truly have a “fair and balanced” view of the world around us.

As we move, with a sense of dread, toward the election in November, the need to have accurate information will become more important. And as we head into the unknown world of Artificial Intelligence, being sure of what we know will become even more vital. We will need to have the facts checked. Then we will need to fact check the fact checkers. I suppose the quote from President Ronald Reagan back in the 1980’s is just as true today. Concerning the Soviet Union and nuclear disarmament, he said, “Trust, but verify.” And we need to do the same today.