MyPerspective – Think for oneself: Require proof that isn’t based solely on what numbers of people or prominent individuals believe.
I take ‘official stories’ and rigid beliefs with a grain of salt. Whether it’s politics or religion, I’m interested in the why — where these ideas come from, and whose interests they actually serve.
Numbers versus truth: If something is false, it doesn’t matter how many people believe it. It’s still false. So, any argument based on numbers of people believing it lacks credibility. Democracy provides a means of making decisions, not a means of determining truth.
Groups: Being part of a group—religious or ideological—gives people comfort, guidance and a sense of community. However, group loyalty can also produce blind spots in thinking. Throughout history, such frameworks of thinking have been manipulated by those in power using them to control and ‘steer’ people.
Facts Over ‘Isms’: I don’t care for ‘isms’—capitalism, communism, or any other label converted to dogma that requires one to stop thinking and start just ‘believing’. I look for hard data and evidence that isn’t bought and paid for by someone with an agenda or profit motive.
Risk and Reality: When truth cannot be proven I adopt a risk-management approach, accounting for personal and community wellbeing. I do not set out to condemn anyone. But I do attempt to understand truth and motivation, even when it’s uncomfortable or invisible to the naked eye. I accept that things may not always be as they seem. But I do not accept exhortations to disbelieve what my eyes clearly see, or to accept conclusions contradicting logic, without satisfactory explanation.
Approach: I take a non-partisan, evidence-based, evidence-led, data driven, systems engineering approach to local and global issues.