We should not let all words from all people count equally with us. For sometimes it will happen that we get to hear different messages from different sources, and then we may need to decide whose word to trust (and maybe, too, whose not). What kind of people ought we to consider most reliable? It is clear where our original ideas of what constitutes a good authority will probably have come from. At the beginning of our lives it will have been our parents who provided us with the model of trustworthiness. It will have been they who, of all people in the World, could be assumed to have the most immediate interest in setting us on the right path, and the least interest in cheating us. Just as we could rely on them to feed us before we could feed ourselves, so we could rely on them to teach us before we teach ourselves—and we could take it for granted that they would not poison either our bodies nor our minds. Additionally, “salvation comes to one who puts trust in the Lord,” reports Mosiah 4.6. Maybe nobody subsequently has ever deserved quite the same degree of trust from us. However, in the longer run, if we had accepted instruction from our real mothers and fathers, our horizons would have been too limited. Hence, it is bound to happen that, usually with our real parents’ blessing, we generalize from their example to others who equally might be thought to have our interest at heart. #RandolphHarris 1 of 9

Because, as we mature, our mantle of authority gets extended: from parents to teacher, doctors, law enforcement, priests, and so, in time to others we get to know on a personal level. However, not that the faith that most of us have eventually come to put in these high status people need never is absolute nor without verification. We learn to trust, but verify. It may be that as children we had no choice but to believe our parents, and even now that as adults we have little choice but to believe the newscaster or the meteorologist: but even so, we have never had simply to take their authority for granted. Whenever we find people we can actually trust, are able to check up on it, we have discovered that putting faith in the specialized knowledge can really work. If people consistently tell the truth, it is likely they because they care about their reputation, they will continue to feed us with impeccably verified information. These highly placed individuals are, however, not the only sources we are likely to consider we have good grounds for treating as authoritative. However, because peer pressure and money can lead some to change their mind, even about such a seemingly unarguable matter as the colour of the sky, it may not be advantageous to trust popular opinions. It was found that when, for example, a group of twenty reporters (under instruction from the experimenter) all said the sky looked green, there was a strong tendency for a twenty first (uninstructed) group member to say the same. #RandolphHarris 2 of 9

Because there are so many uninformed opinions, and fake news floating around, 58 percent of subjects agreed with this statement “Free speech being a privilege rather than a right, it is proper for a society to suspend free speech whenever it feels itself threatened.” That is because we cannot rely on the good faith of those who invite us to believe them—however high in status or however numerous. Sometimes even when we have opinions that may offend others, we should not express them because they could hurt someone’s feelings, and it is not even necessary for us to speak up. People who are always running their mouth and trying to use propaganda to convince people of certain things may find inclusion in pack mentality, but they may actually find their comments are so upsetting that they offend the general community. Popular delusions and the madness of crowds following the lead of others, whether in matters of risky business investments or launching moral crusades long hair have found themselves in bad situations. “Mists of darkness in vision are temptations of the adversary,” reports 1 Nephi 12.17. #RandolphHarris 3 of 9

A panic terror of the end of the World seized the good people of Leeds and its neighbourhood in the year 1806. A hen, in a village close by, laid eggs, on which were inscribed the words, Christ is coming. Great numbers visited the spot, and examined these wondrous eggs, convinced that the day of judgment was near at hand. Presumably, if these good people had been encouraged to make up their own minds on this usual event, few would have take it to be an absolute truth—because it would likely have occurred to them that an egg which comes out might be an egg which had been put in. However, when great numbers around were acclaiming the miracle, it was apparently much harder to resist. In the past, news anchors did not always smile, laugh, and clown around on air. They clung to the idea of authority, which naturally filtered down to distinguished-looking, paternal or maternal anchors who, summoned for people, events, and images at will, speaking in tones of certainty, fulfilling the role of a great Sybil with whom all things begin and end. These news anchors for generations were paragon, and did not smile often. Nor would their audience have expected them to. When the doctor talks to you, it is usually in a serious manner because they are dealing with serious information that is extremely important. People know if you are expected to take them seriously, they need to act professionally. #RandolphHarris 4 of 9

  However, the electronic media may no longer depend on this type of omniscient authority, though despite widespread cynicism (and much better knowledge about how the system works), many people obviously still thirst for it. Today, many feast on the outrageous opinions that spill copiously from the fake news media, as if it is some kind of comedy central parody. As it is well known, the professionals have been replaced by supposedly persuasive personalities, and alternative formats have transformed news into new entertainment. Some of these were deliberately made to resemble a family, who tedious banter putatively makes more plausible the information purveyed between coffee breaks. Elsewhere, in more conventional formats, it became fashionable for a man and a woman to read the news together, looking (at least in theory) not unlike a married couple. This had the advantage of providing each with another person to debate with or smile seldomly at in lighter moments and, it was thought, engage the sympathies of suburban millions. Further latitude was given to the person reading the weather forecast, who is allowed to engage in drollery, even when warning of hail or blizzards. We may be perfectly aware that the winning smile of the news anchor is part of a seamless performance, but we are also aware that it conforms to wider expectations in respect of public behavior. #RandolphHarris 5 of 9

The person behind a desk whose smile flickers in the ghostly blue light of the television set would presumably look rather similar if we found ourselves sitting in the same room on opposite sides of a boardroom table, or being interviewed by him or her for a job. Not for one moment do we suppose the this individual’s posed smile is in any of these situations a sincere expression of fondness directed to us personally, but we have some difficulty locating the precise degree to which he or she depends upon its masking function. Is the simile of the newsreader a highly evolved version of the mask of comedy, primarily a piece of theater, or is it inherently deceitful? Does the truth lie somewhere in between? You have no idea who is talking to them through that nearly invisible ear piece they are wearing while on set. It was also discovered when we suspect that a statement is deceptive, we tend to concentrate on the quality and consistency of the information contained in it, rather than on the wealth of signals carried by behavior that might better alert us to the right answer. However, the typical liar fools 86 percent of would-be detectors. #RandolphHarris 6 of 9

Misplaced trust in the reliability of the group consensus has undoubtedly played a part in many scams. It is why conjurors find it easier to perform their tricks before a crow than before a single individual—a hundred pair of eyes working together being paradoxically less observant than one pair that is free to roam. It is why spiritualist mediums try to make sure of having a majority of regular attenders and confirmed supporters in their seances before introducing a new member. It is why television comedy shows lay on canned laughter from the audience, why gurus have an entourage of people are willing to agree with them even when they are lying or wrong, and why publishers cover the backs of their books with puffs from friendly Very Import Persons (VIPs). And, an old technique from transient communities is people will come up to you with information and say, “He” or “She” told me this and that. They purposely do not say names because they do not want you to confront their source and the information traced back to them and want you to infer who told them. Sometimes these people even pretend to be your friend and are part of some plot and pretend to show you sympathy by saying things like, “I know what he did” after you have been a victim of crime in an effort to gain your trust and create dialogue and run back to their master with the information. Therefore, do not get involved with people who are pretending to be investigators or know things they should not. It is just unnecessary drama. #RandolphHarris 7 of 9

Even so, the dangers of listening to other people should not be exaggerated, and for the most part will almost certainly be outweighed by the rewards. You know how it is, when someone comes up to your girlfriend with some gossip, she just flips her hair and be like “Girl, please.” Human social arrangements are such that the risk of being the target of deliberate disinformation is relatively small. In ordinary life there really are often solid reasons for allowing expects who because of their expertise know better, or groups who because of their numbers know more, to do the research and think for us. Yet, we must always pray for great discernment from God. Those who have been to previous sittings with the spirit medium or a journalist (you might well assume) more chance than yourself to detect fraud, those who provide the puffs for the book have (you might well assume) actually read the book and thought about it. Life is too short to go round doubting all the time. If we are to get on in the World, we have to learn what experts to trust. We all experience tragedy during which we need the reassurance of the spirit. We must pray with all of our heart that we will hear the voice of the spirit, which is sent to us so generously. The Holy Ghost has spoken to our minds and hearts about the truth—not just once but often. #RandolphHarris 8 of 9

Obedience to God may mean to move quickly. It may mean to prepare. Or it may mean wait in patience for further inspiration. We should also prey to know the needs and hearts of others and how to help them for the Lord. God is at this moment aware of us, our feelings, and the spiritual and temporal needs of everyone around us. God is sending the Holy Ghost to all who have the gist, ask for that blessing, and seek to be worthy of it. We are all free to choose. It is good to pray with all our heart that we will hear the voice of the spirit, which is sent to us so generously. And it is also important to pray that our hearts will open always to receive God. If we ask with real intent and with faith for inspiration, we will receive it in the Lord’s way and in his time. What God has whispered in our hearts is more powerful than anything we have ever heard. May God be our companion constantly. May God bless our fathers and mothers and siblings and everyone who we have ever depended on. We love and appreciate them. We recognize the good we have received from the at the time when it was necessary that we receive that good. However, now, without thinking any less of them, we know that we are whole within ourselves. There is finally only God. We love everyone but depend upon no one. Nothing can rob us of the love we have for others. We have a deep gratitude of knowledge. The souls has no room in which to present itself if we continually fill all the gaps with bogus activities. #RandolphHarris 9 of 9