Truth Is In The Jar Of The Beholder Analysis

Truth is in the Ear of the Beholder Understanding and making sense of the diverse inner psych that resides in each of us, is a daunting task. One thing is for certain, as long as humans have been able to communicate; they have had the ability to create stories and rumors. The deeper question is why? Why do people start rumors to begin with and then exactly who is spreading them? Gregory Rodriguez, a columnist with the Los Angeles Times examines these questions in his article written in 2009, called Truth is in the Ear of the Beholder (220). His evidence supports a flaw to basic human cognitive abilities. Fabricated stories grow from the emotionally tied preconceived ideas within the individual reviewing it. These emotional ties weigh …show more content…
Sunstein, a legal scholar who is the head of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, contributes his views on the recanting rumors. He states in his book, “When people believe rumors, the believers are often perfectly rational, in the sense that their belief is quite sensible in light of their existing knowledge” (Sunstein 2). Sunstein argues that once a rumor is received and adopted, recanting the rumor to reveal the actual truth could actually do more harm than good (Rodriguez 221). Sunstein refers us to a 2004 experiment, in which he emphasizes the results. The experiment involved asking liberals and conservatives particular questions in regards to their views of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. They were then followed up with “mock news” in which the liberals “shifted in greater even disagreement” with the information that was originally given, while the conservatives “showed significant shift in agreeing with the original statement” (Rodriguez 221). Evidently what it really boiled down to is that it depended on the participant’s political