Watching a recent Mark Kermode series about cinema and films, he got to the episode about Spy films. In his introduction, he used the phrase, ‘... in this, post-truth world...’. An interesting phrase, which struck me as more significant than perhaps initially perceived. A phrase which genuinely raises the question: are we now living in a ‘post-truth’ world?Of course, the deliberate laying aside of ‘Truth’, is not a recent phenomena. Another well know phrase, ‘The first casualty of War is Truth’, would indicate that for long as there has been war, there will have been the casualty of Truth. And of course, there has been ‘war’ for as long as humans have lived on this world.
So, I was left questioning why that phrase, ‘... in this, post-truth world...’, seemed to resonate so deeply.
Firstly we need to ask ourselves, ‘what is Truth?’ a phrase that will ring some bells as it’s a question that occurs in the Bible (John’s Gospel, Chapter 18 verses 37-38). Jesus has been arraigned before Pontius Pilate. ‘You are a king, then!’ said Pilate. Jesus answered, ‘You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.’ ‘What is truth?’ retorted Pilate.
So, some 2000 years ago that deepest of questions was asked. What is Truth? It remains a formidable and heart-searching question to this day.
Members of the Flat Earth Society fervently believe that the Earth is, well, flat. Conspiracy theorists may believe that the Apollo Moon landings were put together in a film studio for American propaganda house points. There are those who insist the 2nd World War Holocaust never happened, but the Loch Ness Monster is real. Indeed the list is almost endless. It can equally be said that, one person’s Truth, is another person’s Lie.
So, where does that leave us in the 21st century, currently in the grip of a world-wide viral pandemic called COVID-19 [aka Coronavirus 2 or SARS-CoV-2] - or are we?
In the last 25 years, with the growth of on-line communications, be it via email, Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp, TikTok, Skype, Facetime, Zoom etc., etc., we have a communication situation which is unprecedented in human history, where anyone with a Computer, Tablet or Smartphone has the ability to ‘talk’ to the rest of the World. Just think about that for a moment. At the end of WWII in 1945, the only way you knew this had happened was via Radio, Newspapers and Newsreels in cinemas. And it was only a one-way communication. And you had to trust what you heard because that was the only information source.
Leaping back to the modern day, we now have the newly named phenomenon of, ‘Fake News’, not just from one or two sources, but from Millions of sources. Fake News/Information is now used for a myriad things: Scams, Propaganda, Ego-boosting, Influencing, Deceit, Misguidance, and general misdirection.
So then, how does anyone know, ‘What Is Truth?’.
There are two fundamental approaches to the question:
1 - Assume everything is not true, until proven otherwise, or
2 - Assume everything is true, until proven otherwise.
The former is, in some senses, the safest route. It will always protect you, but in the process you stand a good chance of missing some potentially valuable and important piece of information.
The latter will ensure you hear every bit of news that comes your way, but leaves you potentially very vulnerable.
Sadly there is no single answer. No-one can possible know the veracity of every single piece of information that comes their way. So this is where the old fashioned attribute called, ‘Wisdom’, comes in. Combine this was the well known Bon Mot, ‘If it seems to be too good to be true, it probably is’, and you will be on your way to not getting sucked, or suckered, in but some scam or other deceit.
Does this therefore mean we really are living in a Post-Truth world. No it doesn’t, Truth does exist, it just takes, in many cases, some time to filter the good from the bad, the dust from the specs of real Gold, the honest from the dishonest. It can be a tough task, a lifelong task, and sometimes a heart-breaking task.
Pontius Pilate had the Son of God, Jesus, standing in front of him, and didn’t know what was truth. He made the wrong decision. Be careful that you don’t, perhaps, make the wrong decision.
