I choose to be skeptical!

I was just watching Good Night and Good Luck, the very good (but overrated) directorial effort by the very dishy George Clooney and starring the even dishier David Strathairn. The movie concerns the McCarthy hearings and the communist 'witch hunt' of the early fifties. I've always been interested in this odd bit of history and appreciated the film for its great camerawork (more than 90% of the movie is shot in closeup), excellent music, and impeccable acting-particularly by Straithairn. The story was actually very easily followed by simply looking at old news footage and brought little fresh stuff to the table. However, I did appreciate one very valid point . That television has become our (and by 'our' I mean developed society) only window to much of the outside world. It's true that we tend to remain wholesomely skeptical of things we hear on tabloid shows like Entertainment Tonight or the like, but when it comes to 'news' footage, how many of us truly question what we see? Locally, this isnt really an issue but on the worldwide scale-I sometimes wonder. Of course, in the US we only get portions of the worldwide news and where there is little actual footage, it is usually generously supplemented w/ predjudicial subtext. We are not a people generally capable of researching every news item we hear, so we tend to say 'well, it's on the news so it must be true' and let it go at that.

Things that were stated as 'fact' 20 years ago have since been, in many cases, disproved-so why do we except things so blindly now? I have made it my personal vendetta to refuse to take things at their face value unless the facts are clearly presented. And I need to understand the facts and all their terminology.

I want more evidence as to why we know so much about dinosaurs from staring at their bones! How much of this stuff is manufactured? Why haven't we been back to the moon? Why is the rest of the world content w/Americans being the only ones to do it? How can we put so much stock in Carbon Dating when it still so imperfect? How do we KNOW how old the earth is?

I find myself thinking along these lines almost every time I catch the news. It seems so glossy and exaggerated these days. Half the time, I almost think I catch a smirk on the anchorman's face.

So, I will continue to be skeptical about things someone cannot explain sufficiently. Because I think it's natural to be that way. And because it's lots more fun.