Sometimes it is hard to tap into our spiritual selves or find time to nurture our intellectual curiosity. Here is a section that reflects on some nourishing materials from around the web and related media channels in order to get us thinking, get us feeling, and get us reflecting on the lives we are living in this big, beautiful world. **Some Adult/Mature Themes May Appear in Links and Other Attached Material**

Deep Fake

One of the UU values I’ve always found most compelling is the pursuit of truth in a responsible way. Because, the scope of that is just so gigantic and it is so challenging to always find the truth and never give into the deceptions that surround us. Its the kind of principle that shows you how much of the world around us is designed to mislead or at least distract us. 

Digital spaces and tools have become the centerpiece of this experience, at least recently. Especially because video and images have long been paragons of reliability when it comes to visual evidence. Think of everything from courtroom testimony to instant replays in sports. We have all inherited the idea that if we can see it, it must stand in some way in the world. 

This is where technology can change everything, including how vigilant we have to be if we are going to pursue the truth in a thoughtful way. Digital tools can now effectively re-create images that move and speak, even without that person or individual being around any longer. People have started calling these images and videos “deep fakes.”
But this also means that there is a new way to mis-represent the world, because faces can be inserted into videos even when the individual wasn’t there. And if you want to see just how powerful these digital representations can be, just view the “psa” here that showcases how we can all be deceived.

Allan T. Georgia, M.Div., M.T.S., PhD