My son, Jairus, is 12 years old. I've spent a lot of time with Jairus and invested my life in him while trying to be a good father. For certain, there are times that I have failed in that endeavor.
In my opinion, a good father doesn't expect anything in return for the investment he makes in his children. He's devoted to his children in unconditional, Christ-like love just as Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 13. Being a parent definitely opens one's eyes to God's love for us.
It may come as no surprise to the seasoned parents, however, that not long ago, my son taught me something. You have to understand that I am philosophical in nearly if not every aspect of my life. I have told Jairus many times of my tendency to suppress my history or my childhood because all I remember is my mistakes. This has nothing to do with my parents, my family, or the way I was raised. It is strictly a mental habit to focus on my failures.
The other day, Jairus instructed me with something like this:
"You know dad, your suppression of your childhood is really caused by the negativity bias. The human mind naturally gravitates or focuses on negative events and records them. Then when you think back on your childhood, those events are over represented in your memory creating this negativity bias."
This revelation was profound to the philosopher in me. Jairus was teaching me to change the way I think. 'Basically, you just need to learn to filter out the over-represented negative events, Dad. Duh.' Wow!
So, I began pondering this question of negativity bias. In which course, I considered the question about real-time access to news and information. Today, we have instant access to more information than at any time in history. But does more information really mean that we are more informed? When I shared this story with a colleague, he challenged me. Our conversation went something like this:
Me: "We have more information in the news, but regardless of whether you listen to one side or the other or both, the news is heavily biased toward negativity because negative sells and positive not so much. We hear how many murders took place in X neighborhood. Even if we receive positive news, it is the extreme positive news. We don't hear that no murders took place in Y neighborhood unless that is uncommon. Besides that, many of the original sources of news are the same, so regardless of hearing more information, it is really just repeated over and over again by the same or different anchors. It is also interpreted and filtered before reaching us, so I think having more information does not make us more informed."
Colleague: "No, having more information even if it is from the same original source or repeated over and over again, does in fact make you more informed because by definition, the information you have now is more than what you had before. The question you are really asking is whether or not the more information you have received will lead you to make better decisions. So, while you are absolutely more informed, you are not better informed."
After hearing this superior argument, I have to say I agree. Perhaps it's a distinction without a difference, but my colleague's choice of words and descriptions are spot on. And, I am now thinking more freely about my childhood as I wade through my own failures and mistakes. All of this thanks to my son, Jairus. The student has become the teacher and the teacher the student.
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