Post-truth (emotional Lie): Definition And Examples
In Plato’s myth of the cave, the famous Greek philosopher stated that truth is independent of our opinions. It will always be there even if no one believes in it. It is a very idealistic vision of what exists.
However, this very powerful idea also has a dark side: lies can also persist and monopolize all the attention because, although it does not faithfully describe reality, it is not necessary; it just “works” in our heads. It allows us to build a story about our lives. That’s why he survives.
A few months ago the Oxford Dictionary noted that the word of the year 2016 had been post-truth, which in Spanish is something like post-truth This concept indicates that between truth and lies there is a territory of murky waters that escapes these two definitions.
Post-truth has been defined as a cultural and historical context in which empirical contrast and the search for objectivity are less relevant than belief in itself and the emotions it generates when creating currents of public opinion.
Basically, the word serves to indicate a tendency in the creation of arguments and speeches that is characterized by the assumption that objectivity matters much less that the way in which what is stated fits with the belief system that we feel is ours and that makes us feel good.
Post-truth supposes a blurring of the border between truth and lies, and creates a third category different from the previous two. One in which a fact, fictional or not, is accepted in advance for the simple fact that it fits with our mental schemas.
The popularization of post-truth has been joined by the concept of alternative facts, which in Spanish translates as “alternative facts.” Lies, come on. But with a nuance: alternative facts, unlike lies in general, They have behind them a powerful media and propaganda apparatus that supports them and will do everything possible to make those falsehoods seem to explain reality or, at least, not to seem like lies.
Ultimately, for something to be an alternative fact, it needs something that gives it impetus and that allows it to generate a discourse parallel to reality without hitting itself. Otherwise, it would not be the alternative at all.
Alternative facts are, before being baptized as such by the head of Trump’s electoral campaign when she was criticized for having used false information, the raw material of post-truth. Or, seen another way, the elements whose existence has forced someone to create the concept of post-truth and use it in political science and sociology.
Some examples of post-truth
As clear examples of the influence of post-truth culture we could mention the fact that led to the use of the concept “alternative facts” for the first time in a professional political context. Kellyanne Conway, the aforementioned head of Donald Trump’s campaign, justified the barriers placed on citizens from countries with a Muslim tradition who want to enter the United States by pointing out that two Iraqi refugees had been involved in the Bowling Green massacre The Bowling Green massacre did not exist.
Another simple example of post-truth are the statements of Sean Spicer, White House Press Secretary, ensuring that the media had deliberately hidden the massive attendance of citizens at Trump’s presidential inauguration; According to him, the inauguration with the largest audience in the world.
But, of course, alternative facts were not born with Trump; They are a constant in politics. Here we could mention, for example, the claims coming from the Spanish government that pensions are guaranteed when indicators that cross demographics with socioeconomic data show the opposite. If it fits with a speech that arouses strong emotions because it represents us, it is valid, whether it is true or not.
Cognitive dissonances
In reality, what the term post-truth more or less refers to has been known for some years in psychology; the intellectual sacrifices we accept in order to keep standing a belief system that has become ingrained in our identity A phenomenon that was pointed out, for example, by the social psychologist Leon Festinguer.
The cognitive dissonance that Festinguer talked about is that state of tension and internal conflict that we notice when reality collides with our beliefs. When it occurs, we try to resolve the situation by readjusting the fit between that belief system and the information that comes to us from the outside; many times, we choose to manipulate reality to keep the first as it is.
Post-truth as an opportunity
But not all aspects of the post-truth are formulated in the negative, as something that destroys the way of seeing things that characterized us before. There is also a positive aspect of post-truth; not because it is morally good, but because it leads to building something new, instead of undoing what already exists.
And what does post-truth contribute? The possibility of creating a context in which truth and the testing and presentation of evidence are valued so little that all kinds of lies and ideas can persist without head or tail From climate change being a myth to homosexuality being unnatural, going through all kinds of inventions about distant countries to create an excuse to invade them.
This tendency to renounce intellectual honesty for its own good has a name in “alternative facts” that allows it to be legitimized.
In the post-truth world, literally any idea can give way to a valid discourse about what happens in reality, as long as the speakers through which it is transmitted are powerful enough. Knowing if it is true or not is unnecessary.
