What Do You Mean By That?

I sat on the couch last night scrolling through Apple News, glancing at the mass of midterm headlines, comparing and contrasting the writings of the various outlets. One of the aspects of much of the writing that really bothers me is the belief of so many writers that they can judge the reason others do or say what they do.

And they can’t. It’s not possible. In fact, many people don’t even know what their own real motivation is.  So, what the writers are actually communicating is their own interpretation of the situation. In fact, that’s all anyone can do. No matter how hard you try, you can’t know why someone did or said something.

So, give up trying. 

Instead, separate out the facts and make your observations and decisions based on them. Don’t allow the emotional responses to the invented and intentionally inflammatory opinions expressed as if they were also facts to deter you or move you away from what you can know.

Facts are what everyone can observe. Anything else is opinion and interpretation. Jettison them.