Admitting you might be wrong is a start

DEAR EDITOR: The brouhaha surrounding Elon Musk’s intentions to buy Twitter and turn it into a private company raises more questions about freedom of speech and the risks associated with privately owned social media platforms.

Will Musk’s interpretation of what constitutes free speech allow users to promote such things as misinformation, divisiveness, hatred, terrorism and political dirty tricks?

Trying to find an acceptable balance between freedom of speech and respect for the truth will continue to be a contentious issue for government.

There have always been people who take umbrage, often extremely, when anyone questions their perception of what is true and what is false. The proverb about six blind men describing an elephant is as relevant today as it was centuries ago. When six blind men are introduced to an elephant, the first man, whose hand touches the trunk, confidently declares an elephant is like a thick snake. The second man, whose hand touches an ear, confidently declares an elephant is like a fan. The third man, whose hand touches a leg, confidently declares an elephant is like a treetrunk. The fourth man, whose hand touches the elephant’s side, confidently declares an elephant is like a wall. The fifth man, whose hand touches the tail, confidently declares an elephant is like a rope. The sixth man, whose hand touches a tusk, confidently declares an elephant is like a spear.

It is hard to imagine what distorted views of reality some people must have when they are unwilling to acknowledge they suffer from a different form of “blindness,” namely, a limited amount of factual knowledge about a subject or issue. It is not easy to be objectively open-minded and have the humility to question your own conclusions. Without skepticism truth is hard to find.