Truth or dare

Someone sent me one of those forwarded pieces, which, of course, ends by challenging the reader to forward the same piece. A test of some sort: conservative vs. liberal, black or white, sense of humor or lack, Christian or no (God forbid). Others with a similar neurotic and pointless purpose make their rounds on a regular basis. Some of these are actually rather harmless. Stats from sources like Forbes and the Washington Post indicate that most people who forward do so without even reading (certainly without reading thoroughly) what they’re forwarding. They just catch the key words that cause them to pump their fists in righteousness. Oh, that sense of righteousness, Hallelujah! One of the biggest faults with a lot of the information that travels this way on social media is that the information is non-information. It’s false, or faulty, or twisted. It’s not something I want to put my name on. It doesn’t take much effort to use the Internet for one of its greatest strengths: research. We’re cautioned to not take everything we see on the Internet at face value. At the same time, it’s fairly simple to find plenty of supporting evidence for the verity or lack of truth and accuracy for any information making its way around. The creator gave us a brain, hopefully to use for the betterment of this universe we inhabit. It’s such a waste not to use it for good. Forward this if you agree, I dare you. OMG, no, don’t forward this. I’m just blowing off steam. Or am I.