It always strikes me as strange on Twitter, when I see people jumping in to comment on a current news story, especially if it’s a criminal investigation going through the courts.
What surprises me (and you I’m sure) is they feel that within a minute or two of reading the article, they’re informed enough to comment on the merits of the case and what the actual verdict should be.
Of course it’s easy to ridicule: after all wouldn’t if be wonderful if it were that easy – because then a newspaper article could sum up all the complexity of it, and we’d have no need for juries and week-long trials and judges and lawyers and a whole lot of witnesses and additional case information…
But it’s not that simple obviously, and we’re unfortunately we’re not that considered. In fact, we’re the opposite.
We look for the simplest story to capture something. And while it’s easy to ridicule, it’s hard to resist.
This is our constant challenge, to avoid the snippets and the oversimplification of life that social media and traditional media and our natural inclinations pull us towards. To instead realise how little we comprehend the complexity of the world around us. And to act accordingly, with restraint and awareness.
