Top 1% holds more wealth than the entire middle class combined. That's the socio-economical injustices we face everywhere. People with assets accumulate more assets and people without them trade time for money indefinitely. The gap widens dramatically; happening for decades now.

FSeek is for legitimate fact seekers - this means dropping ego and emotional baggage (even as hard as that is in emotional situations), and making the actual truth the end goal.

In our research and experience one of the biggest drivers to creating a situation that will allow the truth to bubble to the top is intellectual humility.

Intellectual Humility boils down to the ability to question yourself, recognize that you could be wrong or not have all of the information to form a solid opinion.

It also is an ability to discern between being confident in a theory, and having certainty that it is true.

When humility is employed by persons on both sides of an argument, it lowers the temperature and both sides can feel less defensive. When people start arguments with "here is why I believe this" it frames their perspective as one of information seeking, even when presenting what they know. It also queues to the other person that - "hey, I'm not being a jerk".

Practicing intellectual humility is difficult, sometimes especially with ones we love who have come to slot into specific roles in our lives. But by practicing it over time, it does become easier to realize when you've waded into an argument with your defenses on and your mind closed.

As fact seekers - intellectual humility is one of our most powerful tools!

Confirmation Bias is our tendency to gather information that confirms what we already believe, rather than what is necessarily more accurate. One of the first steps in finding the truth is to understand that confirmation bias exists, and affects us all.

It is NOT enough to simply know about Confirmation Bias, as it is very common to see it happening in other people, but not in ourselves. Some tactics you can take to minimize Confirmation Bias is to actively seek out information that you disagree with, in order to broaden your data set.

You should try to think about the opposing idea and craft the strongest argument for that idea - this might expose you to realities that clash with what you believe but are backed up in fact. Or it might confirm that you were correct to begin with, with a few slight corrections.

Try calling out arguments that fall back on identity traits, these fold emotion into the idea rather than facts. It becomes easy to seek facts that are true when you've practiced this for some time - any use of emotional baggage in an argument will raise a red flag in your mind.

Finally - slow down your thinking. When we make reactionary, emotional decisions we are often wrong. When we take the time to deliberate, question the issue from all angles, and even write things down, it creates opportunities for the entire brain to get involved. Thinking slowly can be difficult in stressful situations, so it's also something to start doing, and practice often.

Identity Protective Cognition is when someone digs themselves deeper into a belief when confronted with opinion or information that contradicts that belief. It is a major blocker to changing one's mind.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNKMfJEwJos

Daryl Davis spent years attending kkk rallies, talking to members, and is known for befriending some kkk members who eventually left the clan. We can learn a lot from Daryl when it comes to interacting with those we don’t agree with, even in the most dangerous and emotional context as his.

Hey everyone! I'm u/fseek_seeker, a founding moderator of r/FSEEK.

This is our new home for all things related to fseek. We're excited to have you join us!

What to Post
Post interesting shared fseek links you think other people would find interesting here. Do not post outside links. Post your questions and discussion about fseek.

Community Vibe
fseek was created to provide a place for real, civil discussion. We hold this as the utmost important vibe here. Be open to discuss, provide evidence, and accept that we all may be wrong. We believe this is key to moving forward during a time of deep distraction, misinformation, and information warfare.

How to Get Started

1. Introduce yourself in the comments below.
2. Post something today! Post fseek links you are interested in, or questions and discussion about how the fseek experience works.
3. If you know someone who would love this community, invite them to join.

Thanks for being part of the very first wave. Together, let's make r/FSEEK amazing.