COPPOCC

"COPPOCC?!" I hear you cry.
Yes. COPPOCC.

One of the greatest of the teachers I have been blessed with was a history-teacher called John Matusiak. If there is one thing that every student of his will never forget, even if they forget all the history he taught them, it is COPPOCC. This is a mnemonic used in evaluating sources critically.

CONTENT
OWN KNOWLEDGE
PROVENANCE
PURPOSE
OMISSIONS, SIGNIFICANT
CONTEXT
CROSS-REFERENCE

Now, if everybody, when they read or heard what passes for news among us, would consider this list, or at least the first six points on it, then there might be some clarity of thought in our society. What does it say? What do I know? Who wrote it? Why was it written? What does it not say? What is its context? What does another source say?
If people asked themselves, and answered for themselves, these simple questions, then we would know that people had begun to think for themselves at last, and that they might be a little nearer to the truth. Truth is the object of the intellect. You have an intellect in order to know the truth. You know that, don't you?