If you were on a floating platform in the South China Sea—as I once was—you would have discovered a dangerous and perplexing dilemma. Though tethered to a not-to-distant shore, the platform hovered over sometimes murky waters where unseen dangers lurked. Before I could swim to that shore, I would have to choose my point of entry into those waters. What unseen dangers might have lay in wait for me included electric eels, possibly sharks, and always jellyfish, whose umbrella-like extensions could reach 4 to 7 feet in radius. Once I almost dove directly into one of those unwelcoming, poisonous umbrellas. Today, I find myself in a similar predicament when diving into news reports on practically any subject. The dangers in our media waters are numerous: political spin, biased commentaries, uninformed statements of facts, hearsay, fear mongering, hate speech, and so on. How does one know the point where he/she can begin that swim to shore or that path to truth?

In a free society that is governed by consent of the people, there is a responsibility that falls on every voting citizen to be informed. So where do we go for our news? I have two practices that have helped me become better informed. They are not absolute remedies. But they certainly help me be a better participant in constructive dialogues, whether on politics, current events, or personal meaning in an ever-changing world context. First, I try to find first-hand accounts of events, actual source data (versus derived a/o manipulated data), and informed commentary on both sides of an issue. I read CBO analysis, IG reports, analyses from officially or otherwise fairly organized study groups, commissions or foundations, the full statements of individuals who are often quoted out of context, and the disinterested arguments presented by thoughtful people who may disagree on an issue. Secondly, and most importantly, I weigh the case for truth first in the light of my own experience and then in the broader scope of human evolution. The latter cannot even be approached without some form of deeper thought than we normally attain within the boundaries of ego and cultural conditioning. Here imagination is necessary in the same sense in which evolution invokes creativity. Bear with me as I try to explain what I mean. As a species, we have evolved discontinuously from other primates and have leaped into civilization and advanced cultures at an exponential rate in the context of earth history. The intuition that has brought us insights into quantum physics, inspired our artists, and sparked the wisdom of world leaders like Gandhi, King, and Mandela is actually available to every one of us. These individuals triggered transformations in society because they manifested wisdom that all of us could understand because we too had access to their visions. The ability to find meaning in the constant flow of information—which is the fluid world of news today—already rests with each one of us. But we have to learn to rid ourselves of the preconceived ideas/prejudices that disable us from seeing the big picture. For example, what is the relevance of rote education to the development of a critical electorate? How does our current energy driven framework for an advanced technological society affect future generations? How does intolerance for unconformity in appearance, lifestyle or imagination further the prospects for an innovative and vital society? How can a democracy subject to a Constitution and the rule of law justify preemptive war, rendition, torture, life imprisonment without trial, and secret courts?

America may not be perfect, but we have evolved into the best democracy yet conceived by man/woman. Of course, the so-called fourth estate has an important role to play: it is a check on politicians’ self-interested distortions; at its best it offers the public an unsullied access to facts and evidence for our consideration. But it still falls on each one of us to sift through an information blizzard and to make sense of it all. That last parameter requires us to draw on a higher consciousness. Each generation has visionaries that show us the way. But, in the end, we have to look within ourselves for that communal light.