Hearsay: Wisdom is knowing that you don’t know

The inspiring article: People accept hearsay instead of facts.

Let’s see if I’ve got the principle down.

What is hearsay? It is testimony given to prove a case or a point that cannot be cross-examined.

Is that right? Let me double check.

Any out of court statement that is offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted. (“The “facts” people get from the news would be laughed out of court, but the masses gobble them up like candy”, from https://www.thetruthaboutthelaw.com/people-accept-hearsay-instead-of-facts/)

Hmmm, I forgot “out of court”. Let me get some more info.

That’s from freedictionary.com referring to another resource. In case you can’t see the image, it says:

hearsay

n.

1. Unverified information heard or received from another; rumor.

2. Law Evidence that is not within the personal knowledge of a witness, such as testimony regarding statements made by someone other than the witness, and that therefore may be inadmissible to establish the truth of a particular contention because the accuracy of the evidence cannot be verified through cross-examination.

You can see why I mentioned “cross-examination.” Please check here for a fuller description of the point (https://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/hearsay).

When I first heard the article that inspired this piece, I was taken aback. Look at the title in the web address: “People accept hearsay instead of facts.” I have had to listen to it more times to try to absorb the message because I feel it’s important.

Why did it resonate with me so much? Because the author applied the principle to the news. I have had an understanding that I shouldn’t trust what the news says for various reasons. But this? The way it was articulated? It was just very poignant to me, especially with recent affairs that are being reported not only by the mainstream media, but also what is known as “the alternate news media” found on video sites like Youtube, Bitchute, Bittuber.com and many others. It impacts what is said and publicised by Jew-haters and people of other worldviews.

There are youtubers like Sargon of Akkad and Paul Joseph Watson, like “WE GOT A PROBLEM” and others and there are mainstream news broadcasters like the BBC. I’ll watch their content about things supposedly happening across the world, and what I end up asking myself nowadays is “how do they know what really happened?” Recently, news programmes and YouTube commentators reported that supposedly some guy in Iran was killed by the Americans. They gave his name as well as stating things that he is supposed to have done that warranted his killing. My question is how the news broadcasters know these things. What was their source? How reliable was their source? How did their source know what happened? Isn’t it just hearsay upon hearsay? When the YouTube commentators comment on it, how do they know what they’re talking about? Don’t they just get it from the news, which could be hearsay upon hearsay? So now it could be hearsay three times removed. Many on the internet believe that something called “America” is just doing the will of something called “Israel.” One such person called “Mark Collett” who seems to say a lot of sensible stuff, but also seems to have an issue with something called “Israel” made such a connection, that the only people who have something to gain from the destabilisation of the “Middle East” is that thing called “Israel.” Many times they are vague in their language. What exactly do they mean by “America” and “Israel?” Do they mean the population? A representative number of the population? The government? A part of the government? The military? And me, as the viewer, do I have the time to verify all their stories? No! But can I trust them? Of course not. Any one of them, from the BBC to Mark Collett, I can see agenda in their words but I have no way of validating their stories.

Now don’t get me wrong? I’m not saying the principle of hearsay applies universally. The world is not a court of law. A lot of trust is needed to operate in this world, to have history and tradition. In many ways, it’s inescapable. But at least applying it to the news helps me realise how small my personal world really is and how all sorts of media is used to control my perspective and opinion of the world beyond me, to control my mind.

Look, how much do I really know about the world, about the universe I live in? And how much do I have to accept just out of faith in a report? A news story? An article?

I have to admit that I don’tknow much at all.

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