Credibility

I am sometimes described as someone who is too trusting, and to some extent, I agree with that assessment. I am easily fooled, readily hoodwinked, effortlessly gypped. However, something has changed my views of the world recently. From "news" channels that blatantly pass off opinions as fact and agenda and objectivity, to politicians who spin and lie to my face, to editorials and blogs who do nothing but point out instances where the other side of the aisle is lying and deceiving. All of this information then filters and trickles down to the average person, and what I am seeing more and more of is public discourse governed by talking-points and misleading "facts".

I'm not going to get on my soap box over talking-point politics, but I want instead to focus on just one aspect of how this is affecting me. This is created for me a 'credibility gap' between my brain and everything I hear. When I see a politician speak (particularly one that doesn't agree with me), the only things I think about are how he/she is wrong and how to pick apart his/her arguments. When I read an article, I question the author's objectivity and instantly distrust any statement that sounds like opinion, even reasoned ones. I know the world isn't black and white, and trying to see everything so defensively is probably more of a personal problem than one that can be fixed by this most awesome of blogs, but how can I rectify this? How can I view any source of knowledge, or piece of information without the prejudice that it might be wrong or misleading? Not everything I hear, see, or read can be a debate-style back and forth, battling for the decision of my logical mind. But how do I cope?