I get the feeling that people often tend to think they understand something when they only know part of the story. The courtroom pledge to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth is often an impossible standard. We often don't know the whole truth. Furthermore, in everyday conversation, we may not have time to state the whole truth.
I realize when dealing with organizations, whether businesses, governments, families and other conglomerates, that a statement, a story, a position may be sent out representing the group when only a few people know about the issue or subject. I have very little idea of what happened on the campus near me, where I worked for 37 years or in the local schools or in town or in my state today, much less my country or in other places on earth. Experts craft "news" items, often with an eye to readability and reader/audience interest and attracting attention, and sometimes excitability.
I was impressed when I read in A.L.Herman's book, "Churchill and Gandhi," that when the British abandoned India, many Indians did not know that a foreign power had ever controlled their government. But the British control lasted for about 100 years.
