Nobody asked but …
This quote from Philip K. Dick:
Because today we live in a society in which spurious realities are manufactured by the media, by governments, by big corporations, by religious groups, political groups… So I ask, in my writing, What is real? Because unceasingly we are bombarded with pseudo-realities manufactured by very sophisticated people using very sophisticated electronic mechanisms. I do not distrust their motives; I distrust their power. They have a lot of it. And it is an astonishing power: that of creating whole universes, universes of the mind. I ought to know. I do the same thing.
Having read that, and agreed, I began to look for a rule of thumb for recognition of BS. I came upon RAVEN Analysis.
R – Reputation: you likely have to rely upon factual and/or probable inputs from others, people you have not accompanied 24/7/365. Elsewise we need to know whom to trust. How many jamokes have posted on social media things they only believe to be true.
A – Ability to observe: Remember the Walter Kronkite production, You Are There? If not, there is no way one can see whether happenings are factual or wishful. A favorite example is second (third, etc) hand accounts — my buddy was a green beret and he said …
V – Vested Interest: Do you know anybody who has no agenda? I say everyone has an agenda.
E – Expertise: Can you spot expertise? How would we go about verifying it?
N – Neutrality: Lack of bias cannot be asserted without support. Study some classic analysis of the types of bias before giving away neutrality. A useful classification is presented here.
— Kilgore Forelle
