Trust but verify

Most people spread lies unintentionally. They often parrot other people’s talking points and opinions because it makes them sound smart.

They’re not weak or stupid, just lazy and indoctrinated.

Maybe we all are to some extent; especially since most of our early authority figures taught us to believe without questioning. But at least some of us learned that belief is not necessarily truth and that we all use shortcuts to acquire and reinforce our beliefs. Those shortcuts include trusted talk show hosts, experts, videos on social media, documentaries, podcasters etc.

But almost none of us ever test those shortcuts the way we do system safety checks on a passenger jet, or on an oil rig. As a result, lies and unfounded beliefs keep leaking into our cooperative spaces the way oil leaks into natural ecosystems.

The result always poisons healthy discourse.

Oil spill metaphor

The oil spill metaphor is a good one, except that we think we’re the slicked pelicans and not one of the responsible energy executives. We see only the other side spreading “alternative facts” to destroy our values and further their selfish agendas.

But we all bear some responsibility for the lies polluting our discourse if we keep relying on shortcuts to truth without checking to see if these shortcuts are indeed getting us closer to the truth.

The revered President Reagan often repeated a Russian proverb that reflected his philosophy on negotiating the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with the Soviet Union: Doveryai, no proverya which means “trust, but verify.”

You can argue there is no trust if you feel you must verify, but it reflected Reagan’s position with an enemy, and it led to a trust-building path. Verification over time would build trust while reflecting an adversarial relationship.

We find ourselves in a sinister, adversarial relationship.

Enemies often pretend to be our friends, and many of us may find out too late that the people we’ve relied on for truth and leadership have been misleading us. The Iraq war, and the 2008 financial crisis are just two recent examples of why we shouldn’t trust those we should.

A bright future for all requires us to stop trusting for a moment and verify our positions, beliefs, and truths. Could we be wrong? And if we are, what’s at stake?

Will we send an innocent to die?
Will we send good people back to countries that will persecute and kill them?
Will we ruin a good person’s reputation?
Will we cause irreparable harm to the only planet we can call home?

Distinguishing what’s really at stake will depend on how good we are at assessing hidden agendas and risk.

For example, what’s riskier: acting or not acting to stop climate change? Well, that depends on how bad you believe the consequences are, what the tradeoffs are for action, or even if climate change is real. You have a belief for every point, but how did you come to those beliefs and are you open to being wrong; even just a bit?

And this applies to every important issue: Obama Care, the death penalty, a woman’s right to choose, or who gets to stand up and pee.

How do you know what you know?
How can you be so sure what’s said is true?
Why are you so quick to believe the worst about people?
What’s at risk? Have you even thought about what’s really at risk? It’s not just your pride.

Breadcrumbs of truth

You can do all the research yourself, or you can look for breadcrumbs of truth-telling. Consistency, reputation based on decades of work, scientific process, peer review etc. People who come back and admit they got it wrong.

More importantly, look to motive.

What business interest does your politician represent?

Ask yourself what game is your expert or politician really playing, and use your answer to help make a grounded assessment on whether to bring their narrative in for a landing, or kept in a holding pattern until you verify it’s safe to do so.

No foolproof method

Working eight hours a day won’t guarantee you’ll find out what’s really happening. But you could start verifying whom you trust.

“Trust but verify” is relevant to where we all are today. In a world of fake news, and ego driven supreme leaders using lies as tweet ammunition, our only hope of not slipping further into chaos and probable bloodshed is to do a better job of checking our truth shortcuts.

Specific actions you could take

Give up the certainty you wield at dinner tables and barroom discussions, and realise that much of what you believe could be partly or completely wrong.
Admit when you are wrong, and consider you may be wrong, or at least partly wrong more often than you think.
Notice yourself argue to be right, not to find reason to change your mind.
Learn about your hidden biases.
Practice uninstalling incorrect beliefs (like the thought viruses they are).
Acknowledge there are better reasons—apart from stupidity or evil—for people to hold positions you oppose.

That last is a new belief you could choose to hold, not because it’s true but because it’s helpful.

Today I bent the truth to be kind, and I have no regret,
for I am far surer of what is kind than I am of what is true.
~Robert Brault~

Once you choose to believe that people are not stupid or evil for believing what you don’t, then make a game of understanding why they believe what they do.

At least loosen your grip on the truth

Be a little less sure of what you believe. Take some time to understand your blind spots and our human tendency to act on emotions, not on logic. Your heroes may not be perfect, and your enemies may have done good. No one can see all perspectives. That’s why we need everyone’s.