Apparently, we have entered a “post-fact world”. A couple of news stories used that term this past week.

            Post fact. Not just post truth. Post truth simply implies that there is no absolute truth anymore. All truths are relative. Your truth was shaped by your society, your education, your life experience – it was, therefore, just as true for you as my truth was for me.

            But those relative truths were always tempered by reality.

            But then, what is reality? That was, as I recall it, the central question of Philosophy 101. Ontology, metaphysics, epistemology – answers all drowned in a tsunami of abstract arguments.

            Science fiction writer Philip K. Dick has a fairly simple definition: “Reality is that which, if you stop believing in it, does not go away.”

            In other words, reality is independent of the individual observer.

            Denali is the highest mountain in North America, whether or not you ever see it. The Pacific is the world’s largest ocean. Pi is 3.14162, etc.; it will never be an even 3.0.

            All of these facts can be empirically tested and verified. Even if you can’t measure them, others can. They have the tools, and the skills. Whether you choose to believe them or not, you can’t alter the facts.

            If testing proves an assertion false, the claim can be rejected, dumped into history’s trash can, and ignored.

Different criteria

            Except that’s not how it works in a post-fact world.

            The new criteria become – Who says it? How often? How loudly?

            Donald Trump offers the most obvious example. During his election campaign, he claimed he personally saw thousands of Muslims in New York cheering as the World Trade Center collapsed. Or that “millions” of illegal voters skewed the election results. Or that the Mexican government deliberately sends “bad” immigrants – drug dealers and rapists – to the U.S.

            A host of politically neutral fact-checking organizations found all these claims false.

            In an oft-quoted article from Granta magazine, author Peter Pomerantsev noted, “when fact-checking agencies rate 78 per cent of his statements untrue but he still becomes U.S. President-Elect, then it appears that facts no long matter much….”

            Indeed, Trump blandly contradicts his own “facts”. While campaigning, he used the CIA as a reliable authority to attack Hillary Clinton’s emails; once elected, he derided the same agency’s investigation of Russian hacking as “ridiculous.”

            Michael Deacon, parliamentary writer for Britain’s Daily Telegraph, summarized Trump’s politics: “Facts are negative. Facts are pessimistic. Facts are unpatriotic.”

Selective “facts”

            Or, as Anne Appelbaum wrote in the Washington Post, “If truth is passe -- if we really do live in a ‘post-fact world’ -- then there isn’t any reason for liars to feel any shame.”

            Of course, that they’re not necessarily liars. That is, they may actually believe that free trade agreements hurt the U.S. economy. That money given to billionaires will trickle down to part-time workers at McDonalds. That immigrants are terrorists in refugees’ clothing.

            And that climate change is a hoax.

            As Appelbaum noted, “People are more likely to believe in ‘facts’ that confirm their pre-existing opinions and to dismiss those that don’t.” The Internet acts as what some have called “an echo chamber” where search engines customize results to ensure that your own views get fed back to you.

            So Trump appoints a climate change denier to head the Environmental Protection Agency.

            That’s where Philip Dick’s definition proves valuable. Climate change will not go away because someone doesn’t believe it. Hell will not freeze over, nor will sea ice in Arctic Ocean – regardless of a politician’s personal beliefs.

Three tips

            What can you do about the absence or denial of facts? As Pomerantsev said, “The sheer volume of ‘disinformation cascades’ make unreality unstoppable.”

            So fake news stories about a pizza restaurant serving as a child sex-abuse ring prompted a real person to conduct his own investigation. With a rifle. For a change, no one was killed.

            First, I suggest, develop a healthy skepticism (which does not equal cynicism). Accept nothing at face value.

            Second, consider the source. Has it previously leapt to hasty conclusions, offered misleading interpretations, or been proven wrong? Conversely, has its long-term track record proved accurate and trustworthy?

            Third, beware of generalizations. Especially any based on race, gender, sexual orientation, and political or economic affiliation. All generalizations are, to some extent, false – including this one! The more sweeping the generalization, the more likely to have a falsehood at its core..

            Third, demand evidence. Vague descriptions and abstract words commonly conceal the absence of any solid foundation in fact.

            Facts still matter. Don’t tolerate their extinction.

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Copyright © 2016 by Jim Taylor. Non-profit use in congregations and study groups encouraged; links from other blogs welcomed; all other rights reserved.

            To send comments, to subscribe, or to unsubscribe, write jimt@quixotic.ca

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YOUR TURN

Susanna Suchak picked up on my mother’s comment, about courtesy that I/we don’t have to be rude. Susanna wrote, “Your mother and mine must have been raised the same way! I heard that phrase often. And I've internalized it, I believe for the better.

            “I've often lamented the loss of "common" courtesy which as you say, is none too common of late. And I feel ancient at 70 to lament about this in public.

            “However, as we work toward implementing the Calls for Action from the Final Study of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, we would be well advised to keep this post of yours in mind. We need to resist the urge to follow the trend in social media and media in general to attack people rather than to try to come to consensus.

            “Once again, John Ralston Saul's book, A Fair Country, springs to mind. We need to talk together, civilly and respectfully, so that we can bring into being a country that would make our ancestors proud. I am blessed to be a blend of indigenous and immigrant. So are we all Treaty People.

            Thanks for speaking my heart once again, Jim!”

Isabel Gibson noted my reference to a connection between speech and thought: “Another strong piece. At the moment I'm ruminating again about the interaction between thought and speech, speech and thought. Just as specific words matter, so do the ways I express my opinions.”

Hanny Kooyman: “I thought I was getting old, missing the ‘Canadian ways' we so enjoyed and appreciated when we first came to live here some 35 years ago. Such contrast with the harsher and more crowded world we came from. But now it seems Canada too has 'arrived' -- harsher, more ignorant towards the other, less courteous and respectful. I keep wondering why this is happening -- why the harsher ways are winning. Or is it true that history wants to repeat itself?  The other day I was reminded of my grandfather's thoughts: He had faith that humanity can do better. He saw the rise of fascist Germany first hand.  His ideals were crushed during five long years of war. Only after these five years did people wish to build a better world.  Apparently people set themselves up against each other again and forget where it will lead us if we don't try harder to strive for better.”

Ted Wilson commented, “Peter Gzowski’s remark about our police was only partly facetious. My son-in-law is American. He had his first encounter with the RCMP when my daughter got pulled over for speeding.  She stopped the car and started rummaging around the car gathering the expected documentation for the Officer.  My son-in-law assumed ‘The Position’--  forearms on the dash and head down, muttering under his breath with increasing urgency for her to do the same.  The Officer walked up to the driver’s door as she rolled down the window.  He took the situation in at a glance and said ‘It’s OK, son. You’re in Canada now.’

            “We often forget that we have the best darn National Police Force in the world.”

Janie Wallbrown wrote from India, “I'm totally flummoxed by the whole Trump thing… This time in the UK I was impressed by the politeness of the Brits.  The examples you gave are spot on. They apologize when there isn't a reason to apologize.  I found that so refreshing. 

            “In any case I am horrified at what has been exposed about the USA during this last election.  I would have thought that wasn't who we were. It isn't what we teach kids in schools. I trust Canadians are deep down who you say they are.”

James Russell sends out his own news digests, but admits, “I'm still feeling somewhat overwhelmed and depressed by the streams of news I'm reading these days and therefore less inclined to comment or to provide reading suggestions of my own. It's a relief to find a voice of sanity and courtesy still alive in the world.”

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TECHNICAL STUFF

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