Nabeel Shariff Introduction

 Nabeel Shariff Introduction

About Me:

I am Nabel Jameel Shariff, and I am a student of life who loves to and is striving to learn everything as much as possible. Currently, I am focusing on Communications at LBCC and later at OSU, Godwilling. For the last 10 years, I have studied Computer Science, Business Entrepreneurship, and Kinisiology, and a little bit of everything (including things like Psychology and Music Production). Lately, with the advent of current AI and seeing how the world and its needs are evolving, I have chosen to focus on Media and Communications, because I see effective communication to be the future of humanity. 

Once we have all the cool and powerful technology, and we have made so much progress in scientia and sapentia, what humanity will need is the ability to effectively communicate and share, and maintain all that we have built. We are the only species that, due to ineffective communication, propaganda, and using our built technologies as weapons, we turn on ourselves and can make ourselves extinct in the blink of an eye. Most of the problems are because of ineffective communication, in my opinion, with the real problems being the inability to recognize good actors from bad actors. All in all, what I am trying to say is, it is highly important, more so now than ever, to be literate in all forms of sciencia and sapentia and to be an effective communicator to not become a hostile being amongst humanity, and to be able to positively and productively influence people towards better conduct. 

I first started my studies at OSU, but due to a severe and painful medical illness, I had to adapt to my new life and body since much of what I used to be able to do was lost, like my ability to use my hands effectively, for example. I am constantly in pain, and so for the last several years, I have been trying to maintain myself as a student while also seeking medical help to better understand and treat my condition. Thank God for LBCC, which gave me a chance to come here and study with them while I recover myself. LBCC is much closer to where I live compared to OSU, and their advisors, class setups, and excellent professors and accommodations have helped me a great deal by making things easier for me to focus on both my academics and medical treatment. God bless everyone who has helped me. I am grateful for all of them and especially my family, without whom I don't know where I would be.

From media and culture, I am most interested in learning to be able to discern truth from falsehood, to read between the lines, recognize patterns, and to use these amazing tools as a good actor for the benefit of humanity. I want to make and do cool stuff that the world enjoys along with me, and I want to learn how to be able to present that in a way that doesn't make any fellow good actors feel hurt.

Outside of college, I am excited about learning about existence and the limits of my will. I am passionate about learning the truth of things, the scientia of everything, and also how to best apply this for the maximum benefit (sapentia). Science is Latin for knowledge, but knowledge is only a third of the picture. You still need sapientia, which is Latin for wisdom, which means applied knowledge in the best way. And even after that, you still need skills to do so. Because of my condition, I am most interested in applying my mind to the world and being as beneficial a human being as possible. More specifically, currently I am passionate about making good music and amazing movies that become part of the global culture, so I can leave behind a good legacy and some of my existence here for the next generations for continued benefit even after my death.

The Information I Consume:

What do I consider the three main sources of information? Well, it really depends on what I am trying to discern. In general, I would first want to see a primary source as the core and most important source. So the original material. That means if there is something presented to me, first I go directly to the original source. That would be something like if an article was quoted by someone who is trying to explain a topic to me, I'd go directly to that article or event to see if what I am being told is accurate. It could be an interview, a primary article, or words directly from the mouth of an eyewitness, for example. Next, I would seek a secondary source to see if there is any supporting or contradictory evidence, and this would be something like a person reviewing that topic or article. And finally, I would seek a tertiary source, which would then be something like a Wikipedia article about that topic.

So to reiterate, my three main sources are a primary source (original source and material), a secondary source (like a YouTube video or an article from the New York Times talking about the topic), and then a tertiary source like Wikipedia. Here is a helpful picture from Madonna University that I found that may help visualize what I am talking about. 

Link: https://library.madonna.edu/primarysources

Heck, sometimes I use Reddit as a source; depending on the nature of the post, sometimes I can have access to primary material there. It really depends on what I am trying to analyze. I think my sources can be very reliable and also very unreliable at the same time; it really depends. Even the best and smartest human can make mistakes. Basically, no matter what, I do my best not to blindly follow something until I have discerned the truth that stands out from the falsehood.

Especially nowadays, the aspect of deception is becoming larger, and the lines are blurring more and more. Knowing how to discern between truth and falsehood is becoming increasingly more important as unreliable and deceptive sources and actors become more ubiquitous due to the increase in access of being able to communicating information, especially at global scales. I call it deep vs shallow level thinking, or sometimes high vs low level thinking. We humans must learn the truth of everything, as much as we can, so that we can avoid being deceived and keep our fellow humanity anchored in truth and goodness. We must strive to be grounded in reality and learn what delusion is and how it differs from reality.

For myself, I have a process to seek out the truth. It is the scientific method, combined with the primary, secondary, and tertiary sources, as well as first playing the devil's advocate and being skeptical about what is presented to me, and then giving the benefit of the doubt. I try my best to avoid confirmation bias, as well as any other biases. Put simply, it is the process of a thought experiment. How do you know the Earth is round? I have asked several people and received different answers. Some say, because their parents and school taught them this. Some say because they look at NASA pics. Some others say, look at the orbit of the moon and such. Well, the truth is, using the scientific method, we can use an effective experiment to check and compare the length of the shadows cast by different distant objects. I have linked a short by Carl Sagan that explains this better:

https://youtube.com/shorts/T0f6u39jlRA?si=e7bEt01KzojxDnPL

So with anything, how would I know the truth? Well, first let me go see the shadows that are cast (primary material), do my own research and experiments, and check and compare with existing ones and check with peers and such (secondary and tertiary sources), and then apply skepticism while also giving the benefit of the doubt. At the end, the truth stands out from the falsehood, especially once all the propaganda around it washes away, and I will finally be able to see what is what for what it is. Having said that, I am only human and appreciate it when others correct my ignorance, and I learn and grow more and more.

This blog post answers the questions from the following questions:

TOPIC 1: ABOUT YOU -- Who's who this term:

• In a paragraph or two ... or three ... share a bit about yourself (major, career goals, why at LBCC ...)

• What are you most interested in learning about the media and culture?

• Tell us something you are passionate about outside of college (e.g. I'm a runner and follow sports obsessively! Go Kraken! Go Packers! Go Beavers! Go Ducks! Go Mariners! Go Brewers! When running, my mantra is ... start slow and taper off ...)

TOPIC 2: THE INFORMATION YOU CONSUME

Answer these questions on your media blog:

• What do you consider your THREE main sources of information? This can be a platform (e.g. Instagram, Facebook, TikTok) and/or media sources (e.g. New York Times, Fox News, Huffington Post). Why are these your "go-to" sources of information?
• Second, how reliable do you consider these sources, and WHY?
• Given what you know about or have learned about "fake news," "deep fakes" and misinformation ... how concerned are you about the information out there in the media ecosystem? How do you ensure that the information you take in is "accurate"? What steps, if any, do you take before passing along this information?