Michael Laitman, On Quora: “How do I tell fake news from real news?“

The real news is that the media publicizes and broadcasts the news in accordance with its owners’ funding sources’ agendas, i.e., it is all ultimately fake news.

When subscribers were the primary source of news media funding, then the media was indebted to them, i.e., to the people buying, reading and watching the news on offer.

However, when media proprietors became the primary source of news media funding, with the media relying on advertisers for its sustenance, then the media serves owner and advertiser interests, blurring any authenticity that once existed in news coverage.

Today, there is widespread awareness of fake news reporting. More and more people are questioning the genuineness and the interests behind the media they consume, yet out of a lack of options, continue consuming the news from the same sources.

Yet, instead of finger-pointing at media corruption for fake news, we would be wiser if we took a moment to examine ourselves, each and every one of us that makes up society.

The media is no more corrupt than its enveloping society, which we all make up. It is, rather, a product of society’s values, influences and behaviors.

Fake news awareness is thus insufficient to reach a stage where we will have real news.

Reaching real news depends on undergoing serious introspection and realizing first that the media is no better or worse than the society it resides within—a society driven by individuals each prioritizing personal well-being over the well-being of society.

Fake news and corrupt media then become viewed as reflections of who we really are—self-centered beings who each try to benefit ourselves in life as best as we can—and such self-analysis should lead us to a pressing question:

Is this the society we really want to live in?

If it is, then fake news and media corruption should not concern us.

However, if we aspire to a society that blossoms with happiness, kindness, support, encouragement and a generally positive atmosphere, then we would need to reset our social values—to prioritize benefiting others in society over benefiting ourselves.

Such a change is easier said than done, but it is indeed doable.

It requires regularly learning about our interdependence, how we are all interconnected and dependent on each other.

We would do well to understand our interdependence from many different angles, until it starts becoming a tangible sensation, where we feel that any move we make has an impact on others’ lives.

The coronavirus exemplified our interdependence in terms of our health, how one person’s health depends on the other person following health department orders, such as the maintenance of personal hygiene, keeping a certain distance from others and wearing masks in public.

According to our interdependence, one person’s indifference, lack of concern, divisive attitudes and antipathy spreads negatively to others, sparking a harmful chain reaction that negatively affects society.

However, if we each feel our interdependence, as if we are all parts of a greater whole, then our care for our common possession would let us refrain from harming it, and instead, we would each seek how to make it prosper and grow as much as possible.

Understanding that fake news and media corruption stem from the way we each prioritize self-benefit over benefiting others in society, we can then see that nothing effective comes from blaming the news and those directly behind it for being fake.

On the contrary, if we want to change the media, we need to change ourselves and make ourselves first want to benefit society over our personal benefit.

If we continue letting ourselves be held back from improving our relations, then we can expect more fake news and media corruption emerging together with myriad other problems filling our society.

Moreover, we would see no solution in sight.

Real news would thus come as a result of self-examination and improvement of human relations.

Negative exploitative attitudes are like viruses that we infect each other with on a daily basis.

Positive change thus requires a common effort to build a positively-connected society by developing mutually considerate and responsible relations.

If we make that slight calibration in our thinking, then we will experience a completely new and upgraded world.
Above Photo: “Xenophobia” by Gideon at Flickr.

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Question: Why do you think that a billion people sitting in Facebook aren’t a manifestation of clarification of the correlation and relations between themselves and nature?

Answer: We’re very similar to wild animals, which are constantly fighting among themselves. But those people have at least some sort of clarification of the relationship, and this result isn’t observed on Facebook. Everything operates on the principle “you are a fool yourself.”

I don’t see people becoming wiser and better from such communication. Unfortunately, social networks are still in a dormant state.

Question: What do you mean when you say the development of relations between people? Is it another court, other laws, or other values?

Answer: All these and even more: the right relationship between people, when a person pursues one single goal in his intentions, so the other person would feel good.

Our closed, integral system of human society is tuned to this. If everyone interacts with others like that, then everything will be fine with us.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 4/12/20

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Question: We know that all actions are performed by the Creator, and this can be seen in the example of the coronavirus. To change and build new correct relationships, do we only need to want this internally?

Answer: No, that is not enough. To build the correct desire to reveal the virus, that is, to see our mistakes in communicating with each other, that is not enough.

We must also understand how to be interrelated, how to connect with each other. We should correctly calculate our communication, our connection, in accordance with our egoistic and altruistic desires, so that we do not harm each other in any way.

When we separate so that we do not just sit at home, do not get closer than two meters from each other, do not harm each other, and we understand that we must correctly interact with each other in our intentions, then we will be able to communicate again and build our relations on a new level.

I cannot say when it will happen, but I do not think it will be soon. Months, at least, should pass before humanity realizes the meaning of this virus. Today we can say that for the first time in the history of humanity, one force is acting on it, causing the same effect, and this says a lot.

In particular, we have come to an integral world and nature relates to us as to one, single, bad organism existing within it. Therefore, it breaks us and will crush us more and more severely if we do not obey its integral system.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 4/5/20

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Question: By what criteria can we understand whether we, the world group, and the whole world are on the path of accelerated development (Achishena)?

Answer: On one hand, this can be seen by the processes we undergo within ourselves: how everything changes in us.

On the other hand, this is visible around the world: how fast it goes through all kinds of conditions, runs from one extreme to another, how quickly generations change. They say that today, a completely new generation appears every seven to eight years. The development of the world is accelerating.

We are increasingly connected with each other. Today, there is amazing communication between all people. And it will increase until we begin to feel each other.

Very soon, we will stop using phones, and there will be a mutual feeling. We will not even notice how a mechanical connection will begin to feel like an emotional connection. I will understand and feel people around the globe as if I am communicating with them. It will gradually come from mechanical communications to emotional ones.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 3/1/20

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Question: Do you believe that even if, God forbid, a mere 15% of the world’s population would survive, that it would shift them even an iota from their egoism or individualism rather than make them bitter?

Answer: Not in any case, it would change nothing. I never implied that we should reduce the population. I never said that the coronavirus should be thinning out the masses, picking on the elderly or the sick, or anyone else. Not at all.

Our world, as Baal HaSulam wrote, can feed tens of billions of people. We know how much of Earth’s vast terrain is unsettled and uncultivated. When used correctly, this land can feed another 20 to 30 billion people. There is no need to destroy that.

If we reduce our crude intrusion into nature, the air and water will become clean and clear, fish will appear, animals will return that haven’t been seen for a long time. It all depends on our correct attitude to nature, not on our quantity.

Read what is published in the newspapers and on the Internet: there are various wild animals that are no longer afraid to be near us. It’s only been a month or two and we can see changes occurring in nature.

Nature is ready, it wants us to have the right attitude toward it and, thus, responds to it. I don’t think that it will take a long time for the changes to take place once man begins to understand, even to a small degree, his integral role in the system.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 4/5/20

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Question: In general, there are three main strategies for combating the coronavirus in the world.

The first is quarantine, when almost everything is closed, you cannot go outside, except to the doctor and to the supermarket.

The second is contact tracking, meaning extensive testing of all contact population groups, identification of patients, and their isolation from the total mass of people. This is a more expensive way.

And the third is the development of national [herd] immunity, when only risk groups, for example, people over 65 are isolated, and everyone else should get contaminated, and thus, develop immunity to the virus.
What technique is most effective for our further development as humanity?

Answer: I would generally put everyone in absolute quarantine, except for those who supply people with everything necessary. I would close everything, for example, for a month and discover from all human occupations, what we need.

For example, we need the police, teaching children, distributing food, etc., that is, the necessary minimum for the normal existence of mankind.

People should get used to the fact of communicating with each other in a very limited range and getting the food they need and not more than that. Children receive school education. Adults gain knowledge about how the world system works and how we should interact with nature. And then we’ll see what to do next, whether we want to expand the field of our activity at all. But first, let’s get used to this for half a year.

Question: That is, would you limit all egoistic connections and leave only the most necessary for the existence of our physical body?

Answer: Yes, as it is said in Kabbalah. Like an animal that never consumes what it does not need, but only what is needed at the moment.

Question: Would you stop supplying an excess of the necessary for now?

Answer: Not just temporarily, but in general. Then we would have a wonderful ecology: air, water, birds singing, everything would be fine. We would work a maximum of 2, 3, or 4 hours a day, and everyone would be happy. And all that is superfluous that could possibly be, we do not need at all.

Comment: But it is not easy to decide what is superfluous. That which is superfluous for you, for example, is not for me.

My Response: What is unnecessary for our animal organism is superfluous.

Question: And who decides this?

Answer: Let’s decide together. If you need to play sports, you can go jogging in the park. It’s not a problem. But what’s the use of flying planes from one end to the other end of the earth like crazy?

Question: And what’s wrong with traveling? I like to dress beautifully, I like to go to the theater. I don’t know if this is superfluous or not from your point of view?

Answer: Here it is necessary to draw a very clear, reasonable line that will not lead you to something else: “Ah, the theater? If the theater, then it should be La Scala. So, I have to fly to Italy. Ah, to Italy? Coronavirus. What will I do?” Therefore, let’s limit human life to normal, reasonable boundaries. How? Why do we exist? This question has to be resolved for us.

Question: That is, we will decide what is superfluous and what is not with respect to some higher goal?

Answer: And why do we exist? Only to watch a good movie, go to the theater, listen to pleasant music, sit in company with friends, have a drink and eat? This is all wonderful, but if you fill life with this and only this, then it ends with a zero result.

After this life there is so much more. Let us first reveal what exists after. I would do that. The fact that I can fill this life with all sorts of interesting things, that I understand, I already lived it. And now I’m wondering if there is anything else behind it. And if so, how can I continue this, for what, why?

Comment: Indeed, it is worth considering whether there is life after death, and how we can, being here in this body, prepare for it.

My Response: Not to prepare, but to see it! “Discover your future world in this world.” This is exactly what the science of Kabbalah teaches us. When you have a clear picture of your future life, you can decide how to fill this life.
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From KabTV’s “Coronavirus Is Changing Reality,” 3/26/20

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Comment: The whole world has a problem with Hollywood. For several months now the industry has been shut down, movie-theaters are vacant, all the money that has been invested is frozen or lost. So, all the superheroes are afraid of this 60-micron virus.

600 shows that were supposed to be produced are now all being put on hold. The Oscars ceremony has been postponed.

What is more, Hollywood is facing a dilemma with respect to script writing: “Our manner of story-telling will forever change. Everything prior to the pandemic will seem outdated.”

My Reply: Naturally. People all over the world have changed a lot.

Comment: People used to believe the Hollywood stories, all these soap operas, and TV shows. And suddenly, such a disaster hits that aims them to seek the truth, the essence, something which is quite different.

My Reply: We have entered a new world. We are already different.

Question: So, what would we like to see? I am interested as a producer. What screen play would appeal to us? What would the world want to see? How will it change Hollywood?

Answer: I have never written any scripts.

Comment: But you are a great playwright, seriously!

My Reply: But those are not my ideas! I take them from the sources.

Comment: We are living the script of the Last Generation.

My Reply: Yes. That screenplay is now being implemented. Schwarzenegger can fight for the truth here too. It is a fight against egoism, which is holding us all by the throat, not allowing us to breathe.

And until we grab this scrawny old woman by the hand and rip her throat, nothing will change. She will keep pressuring us all the time, again and again.

Humanity will have to do it.

Comment: So, you believe that such a hero will appear?

My Reply: There must be a hero. We need a hero.

The hero is the Creator. But we need that hero to be someone we can love, hate, agree or disagree with, be disillusioned with, only to later realize that it was all Him! HIM!

Question: But do you feel that this hero is moving toward the Creator? Do you really think that the time of such a hero is approaching?

Answer: We are already in it. I am completely serious. We do not feel this yet because, as usual, we only see things in retrospect. But we are already in it, absolutely! Moreover, it is very clear externally and internally. The first wave of the coronavirus has already passed and all we see now are the remains of it. This wave has passed and we are already thinking and feeling differently; everything is different.

The virus passes through us as we cope with our own sickness. We see the world differently; we do not realize it yet but the awareness of how much we have changed and how differently we view everything now will come. Thus, the first wave has already passed.

Question: Do you think that the time of reveling in those “soap operas” with fights and violence in the movies is gradually passing?

Answer: You can even see this in the youth that was still interested in it a mere half-a-year ago. You can see if they are still interested in it today. I am confident that they no longer are. And the pre-teens that are growing up will have no interest in it. It would seem to them as an antiquated Hollywood of the last century.

Question: You think they will be looking for something beyond this fighting, this violence?

Answer: They will be looking for a greater action. And the greater action is already inside. It is not in fighting, not in throwing someone off the 20th floor and he grabs the landing gear of an airplane and flies off. The need will be beyond the mechanical action, beyond the imagery or the framework of this world. It will be internal.

Question: Internal scrutiny?

Answer: Yes. Or it could be a war like the coronavirus is fighting against us. And so, our hero gets accustomed to it and travels inside the human body, inside the human society, fighting this virus that wants to smite humanity. And our hero is against it.

And then he perhaps begins to realize that he should not be fighting against it because everything that the virus does is good.

It was only I who thought that it needed to be destroyed. No! We must help the virus destroy human egoism. It only aims to destroy the ego and not to harm humanity. On the contrary, it is saving humanity.

Comment: So, man realizes the positive mission of this virus, which is aimed against human egoism. And if we renounce it…

Answer: One suddenly realizes that if not for this virus, we would be headed toward the destruction of our planet. Had the virus not come to us now, we would have surely destroyed it in the very near future.

It actually sounds like a great title: “And Suddenly, Came a Virus.”
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From KabTV’s “News with Michael Laitman,” 4/27/20

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Medium published my new article “What Coronaphobia Tells Us about Human Nature”

Fear kills. As COVID-19 continues spreading and the appalling death toll in America and the world rises, the fear of the unknown is causing extreme anxiety — “coronaphobia.” US physicians are worried about additional deaths occurring as a large number of patients with life-threatening conditions have stopped seeking treatment at hospitals because they are afraid of contagion. There is much more to this new phenomenon than it seems. It reflects a fundamental change in human nature, a new perception of social interaction that the pandemic has triggered. We need to become more aware of this change in order to adjust to it properly.

Now is the time to realize that we are one interconnected and interdependent humanity and to strive to preserve the sense of integrality that the current crisis has taught us.

Our lifestyles and habits have changed dramatically, perhaps forever, as a consequence of the coronavirus. Those with obsessive compulsive disorder now see similar behaviors on a widespread level as people avoid personal contact, handshakes, touching stuff that is not theirs, and constantly wash their hands to prevent contracting the disease. Many are anxious to leave home and expose themselves to the non-sterile outside world unless they have no choice and are equipped with masks and all the necessary protective gear.

What manifests on the surface as an irrational fear of the illness is symptomatic of a shift in human perception in life priorities at a deeper level. Without question, treating the illness should not be delayed or avoided out of fear, but this recent human tendency to turn inward arises for a reason.

This huge world upheaval has opened up before our eyes. The epidemic has slowed our pace, forced us to stop and think twice about the relevance of our endless quest for pleasures. We have realized that the obsessive pursuit of indulgence at all cost is our real trap, since as soon as a desire is fulfilled, a new and bigger desire arises. Thus, we have constantly fallen into the same vicious cycle of emptiness and lack of meaning in our lives.

In our new reality, sitting at home has started to become a habit, a second nature. What was first perceived as being in prison, trapped in a stressful set-up, suddenly feels comfortable and safe. Of course, it is impossible to generalize and say everyone feels this way or relates to it. Nor is there an interest in pushing anyone in that direction, but the trend does indicate that a transformation in the way we relate to and live our lives has occurred.

Occupations have also changed compared to previous generations. We are rapidly moving our jobs into the virtual space — an easy way to connect with people without physical and geographic boundaries. Even though we are still used to physical contact, we are increasingly realizing that the benefits of working from home pay off in many ways — more quality time with the family, fewer long and tiring commutes, and financial savings in lower office overhead costs.

However, the stage we are now in is not our final destination. The virtual space is only a way station in the transition from existence in the physical world to a more inner, introspective world. The sooner we begin to feel ourselves as an integral part of a global virtual space, the deeper our internal connection will be. That kind of connection refers to the unity of the hearts which is not measured by the number of physical interactions we have in the corporeal world.

In a nutshell, the virtual reality the pandemic has moved us toward is the preparation for the establishment of a more internal, integral society, an integral connection. In this new world, we will need to learn to connect above our differences, and create meaningful connections alongside engaging in business and livelihood activities.

This is the stage that the human race needs to implement now. We need to grasp the elements and means of this new reality and learn to use them to foster better human relations. Now is the time to realize that we are one interconnected and interdependent humanity and to strive to preserve the sense of integrality that the current crisis has taught us.

Our only requirement is to strengthen our inner connection to create an integral society between us that is based on the principle of “love covers all crimes,” as our sages wrote. Such an environment will dispel all phobias, uncertainty and anxiety about the future.
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My article in Newsmax: “Conspiracy Theories, Chips and Other ‘Explanations’”

Unusual situations produce unusual explanations. This is very true of the COVID-19 crisis. This is why there probably hasn’t been a crisis in recent memory that produced more fake news, conspiracy theories and other scares that no one knows who spread them and whether they are true or false.

But whether or not the coronavirus was made in a lab in Wuhan, China and whether or not it is meant to scare us into agreeing to implant in us a chip that will monitor our every move, those theories all have one major flaw: They ignore the root cause of the virus. In the end, it does not matter who created the virus or for what purpose. What matters is that it is here and it is changing the very fabric of human society. This is something that no human intended to achieve and no human can control.

The coronavirus is indeed exposing something, something that my teachers call “the recognition of evil,” the evil in human nature. The virus shut down all of our systems and sent us to do some thinking. While we were at home, nature thrived and animals began to roam freely where they had not roamed in decades, demonstrating how injurious we have been toward nature.

While we were at home, for fear of contracting the virus or infecting our more vulnerable loved ones, brash young demonstrators protested the lockdown by rallying together and carrying signs that said “Cuomo protects criminals” and “Cuomovirus the Real Threat in New York State.”

And while the common folk are begging for federal benefits to keep their families and businesses afloat, the tycoons are making hundreds of billions of dollars at everyone else’s expense. Even the richer hospitals got twice as much government aid as the poorer hospitals. How does one justify this? If this is not recognition of evil, I don’t know what is.

There is a good reason that I point out all those examples of human ugliness. The coronavirus did not create them; it only placed a mirror before our eyes so we could see who we are, how we treat one another and how alienated we are from each other. And if this is how we treat each other, it is no wonder that this is also how we treat nature. Is this what we want to go back to? Is this what we want to reopen? After all, this is what we locked down, so when we reopen, this is what will come out.

We do need to live, but we need to do it right. By “right,” I mean that we need to open only businesses that are truly essential and not, as one protestor’s sign said, “All Jobs Are Essential.” Essential to whom? To those who want to manipulate us into buying what we don’t need? Not every business is essential, and not all jobs are essential.

Rather, all people are essential. People whose businesses contribute real value to society, such as food, clothing, health care, education, construction and so forth, should be open and stay open. The rest of us should transition to a whole new field of expertise: human education.

By human education, I mean learning how to be human, namely humane toward each other. We should learn that we are all dependent on each other, because clearly, at the moment we are unaware of it. We should learn that when we promote values such as mutual consideration, mutual care and concern and accountability toward our communities and cities, we are the first to benefit from this. If we want to have a future, we need to acknowledge that the quality of our future depends on the quality of the society we live in. And if we don’t build a good, supportive society for ourselves, who will?

Activism is great, as long as it is directed toward uniting society around improving everyone’s life and not toward promoting the interests of various pressure groups. In order to solve the problems of society, all factions and elements of society must partake in the process, share their needs and the society (or its representatives) should decide together on the priorities in allocating resources and efforts to solve them.

In today’s interdependent society, if one faction remains dissatisfied, it will inevitably bring down the whole society. If we do not understand this now, we will understand it after the second or third wave of the virus. So why not do it now, a million victims earlier?
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Question: They are always conducting experiments in Sweden. Lately, they have decided to settle pensioners with immigrants. Those who came up with the idea believe that it will help elderly people cope with the feeling of loneliness and, at the same time, it will help immigrants integrate in the country and in the new culture. What do you think about this plan?

Answer: I think it is a good plan for the mutual destruction of both of them.

Question: Does this mean that you believe it is impossible to integrate the two groups?

Answer: It is impossible to integrate the two groups. Even people who share the same religion, the same values in life, and the same culture that stem from the same nation, people who understand each other without words, cannot live in peace with each other. Here, on the other hand, they are trying to do something that is totally contradictory, as if from another planet. How will they live together!? What for?

Question: Do you believe that the retirees will feel lonelier and the immigrants will be even more distant?

Answer: The pensioners will suffer! Both groups will turn into wild beasts. In nature, there is the law of equivalence of form. Mutual closeness is based on resemblance. This means that we get closer to someone to the extent that we resemble him, and we draw away to the extent that we differ. This is the law in simple free space. If you begin to bring people who are different from each other together, shock waves and imbalance will begin to appear between them until they reach an actual explosion. So why do that? The people who do that do not have any idea what they are dealing with. It will be impossible to erase the shock with money or whiskey.

Question: Do you think that not even psychology will work here?

Answer: No. It will take several generations before these groups of people begin to resemble each other. This means that they will bring about the divisiveness of society and other horrible outcomes. Who would let that happen?! Would I send my relatives to live in such conditions?! Near immigrants?!

The immigrants are not to blame for any of this either. They have their own values and their own attitudes toward life; a different perspective and a different mentality. They do not understand Northern Europeans. At best, they come from Southern Europe, Africa, or Asia.

This is horrible. Who has come up with such an idea?! It shows a total lack of understanding of the laws of nature.

Comment: Now I understand that this goal will not be achieved.

My Response: Not only will it not be achieved, it will come to states in which the police will have to patrol everywhere there.

Question: There is a problem with lonely people in Sweden, especially retirees. What would you do if you had all of the options at your disposal, in order to mitigate the situation a little so they would not be lonely?

Answer: The Swedes should engage with other Swedes, that is all! They should take the younger generation or the unemployed, teach them, and then employ them as social workers.

Question: And what would you do with the immigrants? This is also a problem in Sweden. How should they integrate them into the society?

Answer: They need to put them in intensive, serious study frameworks from morning till evening, for the whole day, study frameworks for the kids, for teens, and for adults. A very large number of people are needed for that.

Question: So the problem will not simply be resolved with time?

Answer: No, it will not be resolved. There will be new problems such as street gangs, drug abuse, and everything else we see in such situations. It is all due only to the lack of the right approach.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman,” 1/13/20

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