How I Keep From Falling for Fake Images And Fake News
Don’t give up your precious ability to trust
Does it help me spot fakes that my father was an artist and photographer? That he taught the process of developing film in our photo lab?
I’m sure it plays a role. But a more powerful impact was reading a news story I once appeared in. The reporter came with a photographer in tow. When the item was published, the photo didn’t look like me and the quotes were literally nothing I had said.
When do you think this happened? Last year, five years ago? Try the 80s. From then on, I understood that news is not truth and media is not reality.
Today, when I read a news item, I view it as an approximation with an invisible desired outcome.
Today, when I read a news item, I view it as an approximation with an invisible-to-me desired outcome what is usually referred to as an agenda.
The video maker wants views. The poet, writer, journalist want to be read. The musician and songwriter want to be heard. Movie makers and actors want to be watched.
I’m sorry to go on for so long about who wants to be seen, heard, and read. I think it’s because I want to be understood. (See what I did there?)
It’s not that we should completely withdraw our trust because no one is trustworthy. It’s that we need to add discernment.
Some of what you could put in place to be discerning
For example, the following cause me to pull back from a ‘state of believing:’
- I feel outrage
- I become fearful
- I feel helpless
- I experience a sense of separation
- I feel animosity towards something or someone
I immediately assume I am being manipulated to keep my eyeballs and ears engaged. I don’t need to know to what specific end because it’s always about the same things: profit, power, and control.
- Something seems over the top or outrageous, straining my credulity
- Confirms pitch-perfectly my viewpoint and beliefs
Life experience has shown me that the outrageous is less likely. Life is, what I like to call, “equilibrious,” making inherent balanced sense. In other words, outliers are rare.
It is a given to me that my viewpoint is unique to me. If something fits it to a T, I can safely assume that I have a bias and it’s being played upon.
Photography & Video
Light & Shadows
Light and shadow are really hard to fake all the way down to the last detail. The above picture from Canva is lovely and there is nothing whatsoever wrong with it. It is not a fake. It is not AI generated. But we can still learn a few things.
Everything casts a shadow, and light is a substance. If you invest some time in understanding light and shadow in art and photography (YouTube has sooo many vids), you will hardly ever mistake an altered image for an unaltered one. Nor a fake for a real one. (Again, the above is not a fake image.)
In this photo, ask yourself, are the shadows of nose and chin consistent, revealing from which direction the main light source comes? Yes, they are. The light comes from above, slightly to the right. You can see that also in how light lays a narrow line along the top of the shoulders. The background was blurred after the fact. Nothing wrong with that. It’s done all the time. But you can tell. For example, you may find gaps between color fields (see yellow circle). Some of the fly-away hairs are blurry.
Here is a really good video teaching about light and shadow. (Trigger warning: At points, the video uses nude female artist sketches to illustrate a point.)
Emotions
I’m not talking about the emotions an extreme images of flying sharks, grabbing helicopters out of the sky might elicit. Still, when image and emotions don’t match, it’s a give-away.
Of course, visual artists seek out and create evocative imagery. But there is a certain logic. The content and the emotion it evokes are consistent with each other. So, for example, an image of a clock radio that looks like the best clock? It’s likely a product shot, meaning it has been manipulated to evoke a feeling you wouldn’t normally have in order for you to choose it over another. You see this especially in car ads that not only want to make you choose a certain car but to trade in the perfectly good one you now have. They offer you gloss and creamy smoothness to make you salivate. It’s not just AI we should be aware of.
Trust
So whom and what can you trust? Your education. The interwebs provide a lot of it. Just like you learned about phishing to protect your personal information and bank accounts, make an investment in learning about the hallmarks of truth and manipulation to give you the tools to think critically and discerningly.
Cumulative Insights
I’m slightly diabetic and regularly check my blood glucose. The meter manufacturer makes clear that the readings fall within a margin. I’m told not to rely on one single reading. Instead, I am to allow a picture to emerge from multiple readings over time. The averages, rather than individual readings, tell me what I need to know.
So it is with truth. Allow trust to build by developing sources that you learn over time you have reason to believe in.
Public lies have an emotional loudness to them
Lies want to be heard and seen
One hallmark of truth is understatedness. The main thing lies to the public have in common is their desperate need to be propagated. They don’t mind if they don’t sound true or are found out. They mind not being heard and seen. So they always have to have an emotional loudness to them. To be gripping and escalating. By that logic, if something is understated, it is more likely true.
Critical Thinking
Rather than giving up the wholesome experience of trust, which would be so sad, you can educate yourself in a variety of media-related areas to sharpen your critical thinking.
Do education and critical thinking let me catch every lie? No. And they don’t have to. Because not everything I see is relevant to me. I need to separate truth from fiction only where a piece of information influences my experience of life. And where it influences how I affect the world around me. For example, if a fake story makes me anxious, I’m better off learning how to spot it. And my Facebook friends are better off if I don’t share it, needlessly contributing to their anxiousness.
Aristotle said that it is important to be able to “entertain a thought without accepting it.” Critical thinking puts some distance between input and reaction, giving you time to choose what to allow in and what to keep out. That can make the difference between you or someone else shaping your experience. And when you’re at the helm, you are more likely to create the experiences your soul desires.
Source of inspiration: This NYT article inspired me to write my article. It’s a revealing read.
©2023 Henry India Holden. All rights reserved.
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Henry was born in W. Germany. They are a nonbinary writer, certified life coach, ecotherapist, Tarotist, and metaphysical guide & healer. They teach tools, techniques, and action steps and give you unconditional love & support in your soul’s endeavors. Website: henryindiaholden.com