Danger: Beware of Floating Feathers
August 10, 2020
There is a well-known Jewish story about a man who is a gossip. He enjoys telling stories and can’t help himself from sharing what he hears with the others in his town. One day, he hears some juicy news about a neighbor. Compelled to share this information with his colleagues, who in turn tell their friends, who pass the information along to their partners, until the entire town knows. Shortly thereafter, he comes to realize that the story was not true and he feels terribly for passing it along. He goes to his rabbi, asking for help and receives the strangest advice, “Go home and bring me a feather pillow.” Confused, he does just that. Upon his return, the rabbi tells him to cut it open. Immediately, a huge gust of wind scatters the feathers. Now, the rabbi tells him to go collect all of the feathers.
“I can’t, that’s impossible. The wind has blown them near and far,” exclaims the man.
“Precisely, says the rabbi.
“And so, it is with gossip, once you spread information that is false,
you can’t get it back.”
This story came to mind when I clicked on a friend’s Facebook story. A video about America’s Frontline Doctors. Something about it seemed suspicious. Just the name itself seemed a bit propaganda-like. I decided to watch anyway and after three minutes of listening, I knew my intuition was right. I stopped watching and googled “America’s Frontline Doctors video.” Immediately, a report from CNN popped up, stating that the video had been scrubbed from various social media accounts due to its false nature and lies about how to address Covid-19.
I checked in with my physician husband to share some of the medical claims that I had heard. He declared them false. Feeling more empowered now that I had done my research, I reached out to my friend to let him know that it was a false story that promoted incorrect medical advice as to how to deal with the pandemic. By the time I had seen this video, it had been shared by our highest government official to his 84 million Twitter followers.
How is one supposed to collect 84 millions feathers?!
I hear from many people that they feel helpless amidst the chaos in our world, unable to make a difference, with so many challenges looming large. I’m asked repeatedly, “Where should I start?” “What can one person do?” “Will my actions really make a difference?”
To each of them and to each of you, I say, unabashedly, “Yes! Your actions can make a big difference!” Before you press “share” do your research. Check your sources, inquire about who is funding the information, and what is the background and education of the author.
Words matter.
What you chose to post matters.
What you chose to share with others matters.
One of the greatest challenges that we face as a society is the lack of trust and dishonesty that has infiltrated our lives.
How can we each work to be part of the solution?
In addition to taking care of others by wearing masks and social distancing, it’s up to each of us to be mindful of what we share.
Be your own sleuth and do your fact checking by googling scholarly medical journals. While it might seem daunting at first, look for the “conclusion” section which will provide a brief summary.
I’d love to hear how you determine what is real and what is fake on-line. If you have any tips that you can share, please hit respond to share them.
We live in an age that graces us with the ability to have information at our fingertips. Let’s make sure that we each do our homework to ensure it is accurate before we share it.
We don’t need any more irretrievable feathers floating around.
