Alex Poole

I received an email just now purporting to show a series of photos where a young Iranian lad had his arm crushed by a car as punishment for stealing some bread.

A few moments of research showed that it was likely that the photos were taken out of context, and the lad - a performer in a street circus - suffered no permanent damage from the event

Now don’t get me wrong - some of the world’s worst atrocities have certainly been carried out in one of the many names of God. Spanish Inquisition anyone? What bothers me though is when highly emotive content is sent around willy nilly and trusted by the masses at face value.

When I receive information - especially emotionally-charged information that has such a clear intent to rabble-rouse - I ask, “what is the motive?” Usually its a simple question to answer, and that answer can be quite illuminating!

Do you blindly trust what you read at face value, or do you ask yourself who could be trying to manipulate your opinions?

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