“Alternative perspectives should be sought not as alternative truths but as enrichers of truth.”
– A Short History of Truth
“The science is settled”, or so say the environmental activists sick of skepticism from those outside their ideological bubble. Indeed, that same science was settled back in the 1500s, when the earth was motionless, with the sun revolving around it. That belief persisted until Astronomer Galileo turned fact into fiction by proving the Copernicus model, that the sun was actually the stable presence in the sky, with the earth rotating around it. This proved very upsetting to the sciency mob of that day, who, in turn, dragged science denier, Galileo, to face the Inquisition. Today, no one questions Galileo’s claim. Why? Because time exposes all conceit.
The truth, in fact, is often complicated. There are hard truths, shifting truths, and unknown truths. Truths can even be legitimately murky. Many will remember Trump advisor, Kellyanne Conway, who unapologetically introduced the idea of alternative facts. But are opposing realities necessarily falsehoods? What really ails us, is too often the truth is decided by whoever has the most to gain. Especially now, during these politically divisive times, when lust for power drives people to become creative with their own idea of reality.
So, who decided in the first place, what is true and what isn’t? In Julian Baggini’s 2017 book, “A Short History of Truth”, Baggini presents a brief history of the truth by examining ten foundations from which truths originated and how those truths are currently being manipulated to weaken their legitimacy. While competing truths can be viewed as different species, there are ways to reconcile these conflicts so they may live in harmony with one another. As Baggini so clearly reveals, truths are hard to discover but easy to manipulate.
“If you can question it, its science; if not, its propaganda” is a tweet regularly seen on the Twittersphere. Empirical evidence seems like a good place to find truths. Experimentation through trial and error can provide some hard conclusions. But skepticism is a healthy part of the scientific process as well. When new facts emerge, old truths must be reassessed. This method works well for truths that can be grounded in evidence, but, unfortunately, most truths are rarely so black and white.
Some truths are hidden, knowledge too dangerous to be shared. But truths are concealed for a reason, with the unintended consequence of spawning conspiracy theories. But even as conspiracy theories may be dismissed as ridiculous and impossible, some are in fact true. Suppressing information can lead to a hyperactive imagination as well as irrational fear, which can lead to distrust. Plato famously advanced the concealment of the truth under the pretense of “noble lies”, lies told for the common good. But there are grave consequences with accepting and promoting lies. Advancing lies can be fatal to credibility. And as we learned as children when reading, The Boy Who Cried Wolf: “No one believes a liar even when they are telling the truth.” Then when the truth is withheld, we must rely on our personal experience, any education we might have on the subject, and our gut feelings.
Another hurdle is the problem of dueling experts. By self-selecting our sources, we fall into the trap of confirmation biases, expecting to have our beliefs validated. But following our own judgments, we also give credibility to our own presumptions. Add to that, experts are not infallible and can be susceptible to power and politics, especially when they step outside their area of knowledge.
Leaning on our own preferences also leads to the dilemma of competing realities. “My truth”, a modern political construct, is simply my version of events, my narrative, my politics. Postmodernism now views everything as relative to the environment, geography, and even individual experience. As Bill Clinton once said, “It depends on what the meaning of the word “is” is.
Truth is honed by continual skepticism and inquiry. Alternative perspectives add to our understanding of reality. Every time we debunk a falsehood, we are getting closer to the truth. Then by proportioning our belief to any available evidence, we can minimize apprehension and its ensuing distrust. But most importantly, we need to retreat from our political bubbles and acknowledge that The Science™, The Experts™, and now The Truth™ is never truly settled.
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