The fact of the matter is…

As I sit and reflect on what I read in one of my textbooks, a thought occurred to me. Is it more productive to listen to talk radio in order to stay abreast of what’s going on in the world; or is it more productive to limit the time spent listening to the political pundits and focus on learning new ideas? (I am beginning to think I spend an excessive amount of time listening to talk radio and not enough time studying.) The answer is obvious. It is better to spend the day learning new ideas rather than just listening to the opinions of others.

It is so easy to accept what we hear in the media as factual when much of it is nothing more than speculation and opinion. Do the facts back up the opinions we hear? Or are the opinions based on a spin of the facts to justify a political position or bias? One phrase I hear pundits use that always raises a red flag with me is “The fact of the matter is…” That usually means they are about to put a spin on the subject.

With that in mind, I think the more time I spend in my studies, the more I will learn. The more I learn, the better my skill of accurate thinking will be. The better I am at accurate thinking, the better I will be at forming an objective opinion.

Now, back to my studies…