The Truth is Out There

truth

/tru:ϴ/

noun

1.    the quality or state of being true.

"he had to accept the truth of her accusation"

synonyms:		veracity, truthfulness, verity, sincerity, candour, honesty, genuineness; More

o    that which is true or in accordance with fact or reality.

noun: the truth

"tell me the truth"

synonyms:		the fact of the matter, what actually/really happened, the case, so; More

o    a fact or belief that is accepted as true.

plural noun: truths

"the emergence of scientific truths"

synonyms:

fact, verity, certainty, certitude; More

I was browsing through Facebook the other day and stumbled across a discussion on politics.  Actually, what really happened was, I was browsing Facebook the other day looking for some fun cat memes and had someone else’s political rant subjected upon me.  

The content of the “discussion” was the same as usual – one person saying left-wing is right, the other saying right-wing is right.  Some Liberal saying middle-of-the road is right, everyone shouting down the other opinions, some name calling, some bigotry, some closed minds but very open mouths.

For a start, I have never understood the need some people have to argue with strangers about politics.  What’s the point?  They’re suddenly going to see the light? “Oh wow, I’ve never looked at it like that!  I’ve been wrong all these years!”  Really?  

Whenever I see stuff like that I always recall that wonderful quote; “Never argue with an idiot. People watching won’t be able to tell the difference.”

But the thing I wanted to mention isn’t the futility of arguing with anyone, about anything, on forums and social media – it’s this… buried deep within this rant was someone who said

“You just cannot trust mainstream media to deliver the truth these days.  Thank God for Facebook and Twitter!”

And I almost choked on my cup of coffee over the ridiculousness of that statement.  

It brought to mind another of my favourite quotes – this time attributed to Rick Warren:  “A lie doesn’t become the truth, wrong doesn’t become right, and evil doesn’t become good just because it’s accepted by the majority.”

And that made me think “what is truth”?  What is it really?  Is popular opinion the truth? Well, we all know that’s not correct. Truth is, I suppose, whatever the facts tell us is the truth – but what happens if the person reporting those facts is lying?  Or presents those facts in a biased way so as to skew the perception of them?  How can we ever trust what we are being told is true?

It used to be that we would go to our personal, trusted source for the truth – something like the BBC perhaps?  Or our favourite newspaper?  But in this age of misinformation, I suspect even those media giants are sometimes swayed by the personal bias of the reporter, or maybe even (dare I say it) the political leanings of the moguls that own them?  How can we trust they’re giving us the whole, unbiased, carefully researched truth?

I find it almost impossible to believe anything I see, hear or read these days.  When images can be manipulated, articles faked up to look like coming from genuine sources, and the proliferate use of fake news to discredit people or incite argument. 

How can I trust social media, when some posts are desperate to promote likes, shares and ReTweets – knowing that some of these will end up re-branded and sold on to advertisers for profit, or maybe worse (if you believe everything you read) used to fund terrorism?

One final note – maybe the truth is whatever you want it to be? Maybe you only see what you want to see? Believe what you want to believe?  It used to be that if you didn’t hold with mainstream belief, you’d be labelled a sceptic; and if you believed the goal of the messenger was to promote some self-interest , you’d be a cynic – and these were negative labels” “Oh you’re such a cynic!” or “Stop being so sceptical! Just accept it’s the truth!”

I personally feel we should be more cynical, more sceptical, and willing to disbelieve.  I don’t think we should take anything at face value (or as gospel to use an alternative idiom).  

Before I accept something as the truth, I always think – What’s the source of this information? Can it be verified elsewhere?  What is the writer trying to achieve by writing/publishing this? 
Not everything that is posted on social media is as innocent as it looks, so if you’re unwilling to be sceptical or cynical, at least don’t be gullible!

One more quote before I go. I Googled it so I know it must be true!
"You can't believe everything you read on the internet." ~Abraham Lincoln, 1868