Homestead mailing list

[Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>]

Early on in the history of the Internet I forecast a great  
democratization. With almost all information available to all people  
in all parts of the world, everyone would know the truth. The  
miscreants among us would be exposed and made ineffectual. Goodness  
would be common because badness would be less possible.

As is often the case, I was naive. Yes, information has become  
available on a scale that none of us imagined. We have access to more  
daily, updated information than is held in the great libraries of the  
world, more than we have time to read.

It is at once too much and not enough. It is too much because anyone  
can bolster a notion with myriad sources. As with those who argue  
about the truths of great religious books, the truth is everywhere and  
it is not to be found because of contradictions of sources. It is not  
enough because rather than settle us it confuses us.

So I wonder, is there any truth? How fallible are our observations?  
And if mine and yours are fallible, then so too are the observations  
of others throughout the world. Who is trustworthy?

On the homestead list we disagree on various subjects. To make our  
cases we quote sources. Another quotes a different source. And so it  
becomes a battle of the sources. It is educational, it is fun, or it  
is simply annoying depending on one’s mood.

To the garden. The garden seems always truthful. Whether I like it or  
not.