TODAY THE WORD is DUPED.

When I looked at the definition both noun and verb; something stuck out If we are the product of someone who has been duped; we are considered the equivalent of a fool or we are considered gullible. As a verb, it is accomplished by trickery, deception, or delusive actions from another person. I had seen a show of the internet being a great source of the ability of being duped or deceived by someone “catfishing”. For those of you, as I was, before seeing how someone steals pictures from someone else, builds a fake profile and proceeds to take on another’s identity in a fantasy world to deceive someone else. A normal person would find this hard to believe for a couple of reasons; 1) is the person so ashamed of their identity to step outside themselves and try to be someone they will never be, such as pretty, rich, or famous; or 2) is it to hurt someone who might be fragile, trusting, naive, or vulnerable? Now, I love fried catfish but I want to take a second and show the difference in how catfish are to other fish. They are called “bottom feeders” and defined as any of the numerous fishes of the order or suborder Nematognathi (or Siluroidei), characterized by barbels around the mouth and the absence of scales. The new definition considered slang is Slang. a person who assumes a false identity or personality on the Internet, especially on social-networking websites, as to deceive, manipulate, or swindle. For my deeper thought…….Why did the victims go “fishing” anyway? Have we stopped being an interactive society where an easily deceptive, photo shopped, or plain stolen photo profile can “dupe” any of us into believing someone at “social media face value”? I thought, maybe we have become a society of victim wanna be’s and we are trying to escape our lives because we have duped ourselves. Have we become a society of easily deceived fools? I say this because I have a philosophy of if it has feathers, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck; it is usually a duck. So if you wander into the internet scene, or if you meet someone who you don’t have the family background, or if something feels too good to be true……Check it out, ask the right questions, be a little skeptical or walk away…Life is too precious to become a dupe or allow someone to try to dupe you.

(c) copyright 2014 Arline Lott Miller. The material here copyrighted, use only by permission.