What is the Truth?

The discussion in this module will be focused on the idea of truth. Determining the truth is paramount to determining the soundness of an argument.  To falsify a premise is to disprove an entire argument but as a class, a thinking community, we have to agree on how we verify or falsify a truth. We will extract our criteria for determining truth in part from this discussion. To begin with we might consider how to evaluate: 
1) Sources 
2) Observations
3) Quantitative data (percentages, statistics, graphs, surveys, etc)
4) Other types of information
 First, for context and some ideas, read this article in Lifehacker on finding the truth (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site..  Keep in mind this is not an authoritative text on determining the truth to stimulate your thinking and you should not feel obliged to agree with any of it.
Instructions:  You will a submit a minimum of 3 posts to this discussion:
1)  The first will be your opinion as to how we should determine the truth for at least items 1,2 & 3 above and you can add anything you think is missing.  It should be very clear from your post how we will determine truth and you should have a sound justification for your position, in fact you should phrase your suggestions like an argument with premises and conclusions. This must be done by the first due date and the last 2 must be complete before the discussion closes.
2) Comment of 2 of your peers posts offering some improvement or support for their arguments. Simply stating that you agree or disagree is not enough to count as a comment. 
3) After surveying the discussion write a summary of what you think are the best ideas presented.

Oh:I think how we determine the truth is by looking at where the information is coming from. For instance, magazines on actors, actresses, and singers often use rumors and unspecific sources to put in their articles to create a story. The story they create may or may not be the truth but that would be up to the reader. More than often, we as the readers of these magazines find the information to only be partially true because their next issue would have an article slightly contradicting the last thing they wrote about on the person. When we find these little mistakes here and there, we come to the conclusion that maybe this magazine should be read with the thought in mind that what you read will not be the full truth.
When getting research information from an academic journal for your paper, it is more reliable compared to getting information from Wikipedia. Many of us who have done research papers were told never to use Wikipedia. The reason being is that, Wikipedia is an information filled website but is also known to hold information that could be added and changed by just anyone. On the other hand, an academic journal is often written by someone with credentials and have taken the time to research the topic they published.
Information based on observations and quantitative data can be biased. When looking at information or hearing about it, you have to look at the person who is presenting it. First off, companies can be selective when using and presenting quantitative data. They might use graphs or percentages that are in their favor so that their company looks better. Same thing applies for observations where the author could be selective on what details and incidents have happened in order to make the readers or listeners feel a certain way. An example of this would be in a courtroom. Although witnesses are suppose to tell the truth, they might withhold specific details in favor of the defendant.
That is why I conclude that the truth can be determined by where the information is coming from and how it is presented.

LEO: Source: http://lifehacker.com/5950871/how-to-spot-truth-in-the-sea-of-lies-rumors-and-myths-on-the-internet (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
Author website: https://thorinklosowski.com/
            From the article “How to Spot Truth in the Sea of Lies, Rumors, and Myths on the Internet” by Thorin Klosowski, the biggest take away from it is that when deciding if an information is valid, always ask yourself “How do they know what they know”(Klosowski 4). I also learned that asking a lot of question is a good way to compare the information you received with real facts not just intuition. Also the author introduced a lot of ways of using existing technology to help us when analysis info, such as fact checking websites, and source checking extensions for browser. I won’t make any assumption from the reading, but the author did have his points backed up with his past experiences in the researching field (A senior writer for a company, and other fields) as well as visual display of data and facts in his article. By making contrast of what he discussed about how to decide the credibility of info with what I learned and taught in school writing classes, he does have valid and sound statements.
            Based on the article, I believe the key to determine rather or not an info you are reading could be trusted is to ask questions. It is important for yourself to know how to screen info effective, which mean pick-out only the “good” source which are not bias, relevant, and creditable (backed up with good amount of facts, and relevant researches). One good thing like the Thorin mentioned, ask “Does the person writing this have anything to gain from their statement” (Klosowski 5). It is important to know what does the author trying to prove, or show you with their claims and facts. By understanding this purpose, it’s much easier to determine if rather or not you should agree strongly or not.
            Also more about asking questions, ask yourself this: would you tend to agree more with an expert or professional who had years of practices, knowledge, and experiences towards a corresponding subject, or someone assumes based on their opinion. One critical thing that all my writing and researching class strongly emphasis is that use scholarly or peer reviewed journals. The purpose of this is so that we could reduce the possibility of reliability issues, since it is written by highly regarded experts. It is also much preferable than news media because the technique many media uses is to exaggerate things, in return for more views and profits. Also news media tend to be very subjective and bias toward certain issue and topics.
            One of the very controversial information source Wikipedia is discouraged by schools as for their questionable edits. This is true to some extent, but by asking question we will realize that Wikipedia is not created solely for making profit, its origin goal is to always be a nonprofit informational source engine which is available to everyone to use, and contribute. It is really important to see that we shouldn’t fully reject some information source simply because we were told so, or follow the trend of what most people believes. Wikipedia is a great example to show that even though it may not be fully credible source of information, but it could still be a great place to seek for quick summary of knowledge on certain things, and learn how to effectively use their reference sources to deepen your research efficiently. The best way to researching and seek for information is always practice it yourself.