A lie has no power whatsoever by its mere utterance; its power emerges when someone else agrees to believe the lie. -Pamela Meyer. Nowadays misinformation is being spread all around us right under our noses. News stations, companies, and even your neighbors could be lying to you at any point. Eliminating credulous tendencies, accounting for other possibilities, and fact-checking is the only way to overcome deceivers and propaganda.

In the tragedy Othello, characters like Cassio, Roderigo, and Othello live off of Iago’s word which ultimately leads to the downfall of their character. If these characters had had even a little doubt about the information that was being given to them or any sort of eagerness to double-check Iago’s lies, many jobs, hearts, and lives could have been spared. Emilia screams at Iago, “You told a lie, an odious, damned lie. Upon my soul. A lie. A wicked lie.”. Trust is not a bad thing, but even the people closest to you can be deceitful. Nobody suspected Iago, but he used that to his advantage. There will always be liars so listening with skepticism and striving for truth is the safest way to live.

The Dunning-Kruger effect shows that people tend to perform worse when they overestimate their abilities. When people underestimate their security, they often leave room for uncertainty. This uncertainty that people have about information and even their own thoughts leads them to certify ideas to the fullest extent. Sometimes not even trusting yourself is beneficial. Understanding that you yourself can make mistakes encourages you to keep trying until the right solution is found. A blog post by David Theriault states, “The truly smart students are always second guessing themselves or taking the time to consider various possibilities…”. The more sources or ideas you use to develop a conclusion about a question, the more likely the correct answer is to be found. A piece of lyrics from Khai Dream’s song “Through and Through” summarizes this point beautifully,  “Always was a tame one, always double-checked all that I knew”.  Double, triple, or quadruple-checking things is a safety net and gives a sense of security.

To conclude, in a world where not everything or everyone can be trusted, it is up to the individual to verify information and to challenge their own ideas. A healthy mixture of skepticism and trust is how everyone should live.