I’m going to set aside my dude-on-social-media hat and put on my dad hat for this one. Fear is a reasonable response to the sorts of things we see on global news nowadays. Utter terror is a reasonable response to what we see on social media. In both instances, it is important to remember that we only ever receive part of the truth. That part, in addition to any falsehood that come attached to it, only represents what the purveyors of the information can benefit from. In the case of news media, this often means “what could the editorial/managerial staff stand to gain from this information being taken at face value?” In the case of social media, it gets muddier. There are those who stand to gain from stoking panicked discourse, whether this gain comes in the form of driving greater visibility or pushing narratives. There are also those who lack a functional understanding of the matters discussed but feel the need to join in the braying. The latter happens more often than bad actors, but there are bad actors who will use this behavior to their advantage. Our best response to confusing, frustrating, and frightening situations is to act from a place of love. Whatever else we are, we are human beings trying to survive in a world that doesn’t care whether or not we do. We cannot let carelessness or cruelty push that from our minds.