being misinformed isn’t an excuse anymore

a lot of us have benefitted from the excuse that we were just misinformed and for a lot of us, we were. i certainly fell for all kinds of lies and misleading headlines in high school & college, and i’m sure i still do. in good conscience, i believed what my form of media was telling me and i thought that instead of being misinformed, like the rest of the country, i was super-informed since my form of media prided itself on being counter-cultural. in a lot of ways, being counter-cultural is seen as the epitome of heightened awareness and supreme knowledge. 

it’s comforting to think that if we believe something that turns out to be false, problematic, or even dangerous, at least we believe in it in good conscience. plus, if all we did was believe what others were saying, we’re not truly responsible for any effects of this, right? 

wrong. 

we have unlimited access to information and with great power comes great responsibility. we are responsible for our media consumption, for the things we choose to believe, the parties, and the philosophies we hold dear, and we can not blame anyone other than ourselves for holding fast to such beliefs. of course, there’s always an exception. some people genuinely have no access to information of any kind, whether it be an inability to afford a phone, a lack of internet, or essentially living under a rock. however, for those of us who are consuming media, there’s no excuse for consuming intentionally misleading and problematic content. 

for instance, there’s no excuse for not “believing” in climate change. There’s no excuse for “believing” that western medicine has its benefits. when all evidence points in one direction, there is no excuse for holding fast to a completely different philosophy. kneutrality is about admitting we’re wrong when the evidence says so. it’s ok to be wrong. as long as we have free will, there’s no excuse for not accepting the truth, even if everyone wants us to look the other way. 

to be honest, even as I write this, it’s hard to believe i’m not the only one who’s felt exploited by “counter-cultural” forms of media. i’ve felt betrayed by my tribe on several occasions and part of creating a kneutral community means normalizing holding our tribe accountable. of course, accountable to what (whether it be to God, liberalism, moderation, democracy, health, or inclusion) is a different blog for another day. 

if you’ve ever found yourself questioning if you’re being misled by a person, entity, organization, etc, then you probably have been a victim of misinformation. but after you’ve made an honest realization that this is becoming an issue and that this persona is giving you false information, there’s a moment when you being a victim becomes you being a perpetrator. on the flip side, maybe you haven’t had your realization yet because maybe you’re not open to one. this is a space for honest consumers who have strong moral compasses to wrestle with life’s biggest issues. we’re not in the business of engaging in conspiracy theories or refusing to acknowledge reality. our time on earth is short, so why get caught up on debates like these, rather than just getting to the good stuff?

people who consume “alternative” forms of media, often feel that this is leverage when in reality, it is likely profiting off each audience member’s heightened fear, anxiety, isolation, and detriment. by voluntarily signing away our right to freely think beyond this influencer or outlet, we are quite comfortable allowing anyone (other than the actual experts) to think for us and if they happen to come to the wrong conclusion, that’s on them, right. “i am simply a follower, a hopeful american longing for a better tomorrow who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. what can i say? i’m an optimist.”

wrong again.  

you’re probably a bit delusional, and not at all kneutral. 

let’s cut the noise and start following our intuition, our inner teacher, that light that draws us further toward the truth, toward kneutrality.