Earlier this week I was watching an analyst share his opinion and assessment of the current Geo-political events and situation and he said something that made me thinking. He was talking about what Trump has been saying and that we have to take it with a pinch of salt, and he immediately corrected himself, saying take it with a mountain of salt.
I'm not going to talk about what Trump says and if it's right or true or not as that's not my point here. He obviously says what he can as he's bound by law on many things, but he's also exaggerating so many times intentionally, to make a point or to cause chaos and also to confuse who he has to confuse. This is why so many times it looks like he's delusional as he says things that are not matching reality.
So many say it's his age or because he's ego-maniac and so on, all these may be true and even more, but it made me thinking how you have to take everything, not with a pinch of salt, but with a huge amount. You need to question everything and check before you make a decision.
Back in my grandparents' day, a given word meant something. You could strike a deal with a simple handshake and that was worth similar to what the law grants you, or should grant you today. That was then, times have changed and we're living in quite a dangerous word, even if it doesn't look so dramatic.
This week in one of my posts I talked about how we see shrinkflation used to make ends meet or make some profit. It's safe to mention that quality ingredients are also on their way to be used less or replaced with whatever gives them a bigger profit.
There was a time when self serving was not know, or not as widely spread as today, so you were presented with a few option by the seller and you were relying on their opinion and advice. Those times are mostly gone, shopkeepers, sellers are only present in areas where certain expertise is needed or the products need to be closely monitored, like drug stores, jewellery shops and so on.
Shopping has also moved online, so you're presented with the information you need about the products, more or less accurate and so many are basing their buying decision on feedbacks too. Knowing what other people think about the products or services can save you from a lot of trouble, but can deceive you as well, if you're naive to believe everything they say.
You can entertain yourself all day, just by reading feedbacks and learning how stupid people can be at times. So many times I've seen bad feedback given to a product, just because it has been shipped late, or a function that has been missing, which the product didn't even have by default and the description clearly stated that. I call these people digitally illiterate, as there's a difference between rating the product and rating the company, but the problem is, when you only have the rating on its own, there's no way to know which review and rating is correct or not.
Contracts are hardly ever straight forward, the tricky details are hidden in the fine prints and you need to read all of it, every single letter from the beginning to the end, if you want to know what you're signing and even so, so many have no clue what they are signing, due to the legal terms they are not familiar with.
When it comes to news, the situation is even worse. With all the AI features we have available, manipulating content is not a problem anymore and you have to choose carefully who to trust.
Scammers are getting smarter every day and we can only stay safe if we keep up with them in terms of development. This is only going to get worse, so I guess we're going to spend more time on checking, checking again and checking one more time, before we make a decision. Trusting blindly has its price.
Unfortunately the education system is not ready to tackle the problem and not many countries are preparing the youngest generation in this regard. I see banning underage categories from using social media platforms is the new wave now, which has its advantages, but so much more is needed, to prepare them for what is expecting them once they become legally responsible for their decisions.
Life is changing fast and so many times it seems like a jungle in so many ways. Walking away from all this and isolating yourself is an option, but not the best one in my opinion. I prefer to stay informed and try to avoid traps, mas much as I can.
If you're a newbie, you may want to check out these guides:
