№ 656. Truth, Reality & Illusions

 

№ 596. Sunday Thoughts

 

 

The principal problem is to offer a viable theory as to what truth itself consists in, or, to put it another way, “What is the nature of truth?” To illustrate with an example – the problem is not: Is it true that there is extraterrestrial life? The problem is: What does it mean to say that it is true that there is extraterrestrial life? Astrobiologists study the former problem; philosophers, the latter.

This philosophical problem of truth has been with us for a long time. In the first century AD, Pontius Pilate (John 18:38) asked “What is truth?” but no answer was forthcoming. The problem has been studied more since the turn of the twentieth century than at any other previous time. In the last one hundred or so years, considerable progress has been made in solving the problem.

№ 493. History and the Apollo Moon Landings

History is politicized.

How much of what I've learned as textbook history is really true, fair or a balanced view? Is there even supposed to be a balanced view of history. How much of the propaganda of the victors went into the viewpoints that we learned in school?

Wasn't it said that "“In all revolutions the vanquished are the ones who are guilty of treason, even by the historians,”  “for history is written by the victors and framed according to the prejudices and bias existing on their side.” This is attributed to Sen. George Graham Vest, a former congressman for the Confederacy.

№ 472. Cynicism is Sanity 2

Virus misinformation has human costs. It's very real. Lives are at stake.

"In one case we verified, a 5-year-old boy went blind after his parents plied him with illegal booze in an attempt to fight the disease."

How do we navigate across the lies, falsehoods and other misuses of information? Cynicism.

Here's the ABC of cynicism.

A - Ask for proof.
B - Be doubtful.
C- Confirm the information from reliable, independent sources.

Critical Thinking versus Fake News

№ 461. "Cynicism is Sanity"*

The news greets me in the morning with this:

"As the coronavirus has spread around the world, so has misinformation about the disease. Technology giants have touted the steps they are taking to combat coronavirus misinformation, but these efforts have failed to help the Benassis. The family's suffering highlights the potential for blatant falsehoods to be rewarded and amplified by social media platforms. It also serves as a powerful reminder that misinformation online, however wild or obviously untrue it may seem, can have real and lasting consequences offline."

The pandemic has surely become an open door of opportunities. Regimes, business interests, churches, pundits and many groups of various persuasions have begun to wager on these opportunities. The discourse on television and particularly on cyberspace, no doubt, has become a Pandora's asylum for both the tamed and the malevolent, and even for the fence-sitters in between.

Meme Crunch

№ 328.Lies, Lies and More Lies 2

To rebuild belief in the power and value of truth, we can’t dodge its complexity. Truths can be and often are difficult to understand, discover, explain, verify. They are also disturbingly easy to hide, distort, abuse or twist. Often we cannot claim with any certainty to know the truth. We need to take stock of the various kinds of real and supposed truths out there and understand how to test their authenticity.

№ 327. Lies, Lies and More Lies

If fiction is the lie that tells us the truth, what truth can we get from fake news, false memes and other propaganda feeds?

№ 297. In the Era of Post-Truth, Fake News, and Lies

"Error is continually repeated in action, and that is why we must not tire of repeating in words what is true." --- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe