Does the truth matter?

Ricardo Bastos Cunha
ILLUMINATION
Published in
6 min readDec 24, 2020

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Nowadays, it is common to say that we are living in the Pos-Truth Era. It’s possible. However, I wonder: when exactly was the Truth Era? Did at some point in human history the truth prevail over lies? Or over half-truths? Or over “alternative facts”, as said by the advisor of an influential politician?

Throughout mankind’s history, the truth mattered little. Explicit lies or half-truths (biased versions of the truth) have always been used by the powerful to dupe the oppressed. We often say that history is written by the victors. It is pure truth! The textbooks adopted in elementary and high schools teach our children that Christopher Columbus “discovered” America. Would the Pre-Columbian American peoples agree with that point of view? That Columbus was in America, this is a historical fact, since no one disputes it. But to say that he “discovered” America is an interpretation of the fact, subject to controversy, to contradictory, to diverse opinion. This is clearly an example of how the interpretation of the facts can distort or bias the truth.

Photo by Pratik Chauhan on Unsplash

Mahatma Gandhi said that “The golden law of behavior is mutual tolerance, since we will never think all the same way, since we will never see but a part of the truth and from different angles.” I tend to agree with him. However, he seems to believe that the truth is something unattainable, since “we will never see but a part of the truth”. In that, I partly agree. It is even possible to imagine truths that may never be reached, for example, truths about historical facts, since it is impossible (is it?) to go back in time and record what historical actors have said or done. However, I do not consider the truth about the nature of things unattainable. The truth is out there, and I cannot imagine a truth about the nature of things that cannot be achieved one day. We may not have the means for that today, which is not to say that we will not have one day.

Joseph Goebbels, Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany, reportedly said that: “From repeating a lie, it ends up turning into truth”. The authorship of this sentence is a matter of controversy among academics. It doesn’t matter if whoever said it was actually Goebbels or someone else (someone said it). The phrase is perfect and reflects well the theme of this story. We’re so used to believing lies, or half-truths, or interpretations of facts, that we don’t even stop to reflect on it. We take these truths as unquestionable. We rarely reflect on its origin and to whom it benefits.

The advent of social networks has completely changed the scenario of information dissemination. It, which was once mediated by the press, has ceased to be so. With this, an important role that was previously exercised by investigative journalism, fact-checking, came to occupy a secondary position.

Social networks have boosted the confirmation bias phenomenon, known by psychology for a long time. This caused people to group into bubbles, within which truth is a personal choice. There are, in cyberspace, countless bubbles, each containing its own truth about the facts. Since it is impossible to exist many truths about the same theme, the natural conclusion is that the truth itself is no longer important.

The important thing now is the version of the truth and not the truth itself. In internet bubbles, alternative truths are being constructed at all times, feeding back through confirmation bias. There is no longer a universal, consensual truth. The truth, now, comes encapsulated into bubbles. There are countless truths, bubbles of truths as if they were “parallel universes”. Each individual lives within one of these universes, that is, he lives in a reality of his own, the same one that is shared with his fellow beings.

Nowadays, people are encapsulated within their bubbles, along with other people who mirror them and reaffirm them. They are crowds of equals, of the same, all molded in image and likeness of themselves. The algorithms that drive the content flow on social networks thicken and harden the membranes that part the bubbles from each other, creating a kind of “impermeability to dissent”. Internet bubbles have become true echo chambers. Trapped in their bubbles, the subjects see only what they want to see, and, with this, their understanding of the world is greatly compromised.

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This has obvious political implications since in a real democracy the citizens are exposed to a diversity of different ideas and views. That is why in many countries we are seeing the growth of political radicalization, intolerance to minorities, and hate speech. The barriers that separate different political groups seem insurmountable. One group cannot talk to the other simply because they start from completely different premises and information. Each group receives an avalanche of information on which its members rely to form opinions. The problem is that the information that arrives packaged for the members of a given bubble is different, and often antagonistic, from that which arrives in another bubble, making dialogue impossible.

In this pandemonium created by the internet, a question arises: does truth really matter? Are people really interested in it? In another text, I tried to explain why people are inclined to believe lies. Lies are often much more exciting, comforting, and attractive than truths. The truth, as a rule, is frustrating, boring, dull, uninteresting. Would you rather believe that you found your sexual partner because you were destined for each other by some spiritual force or because their genes are complementary to yours, which would generate healthier offspring? In The Sermon Of The Devil, Machado de Assis open wide this finding:

But I tell you never to swear the truth, because the naked truth, besides being indecent, is a tough nut to crack; but swear always and for the sake of everything, because men were made to believe rather in those who swear false than in those who swear nothing. If you say the Sun is over, everyone will light candles.

Some people prefer to live in a fantasy world, filled with comforting lies. I don’t blame them! It is quite comforting to live in a reality that you have chosen yourself, a parallel universe in which the truth is the one you have decided it would be. This is a powerful trap, very hard to escape! If you prefer to live in a world of lies and falsehoods, go ahead! It’s your choice!

However, some people prefer to know the truth about the things of the world, even if it is a “tough nut to crack”. If you prefer the truth, get ready for disappointment! Nature is as it is, human nature idem. Things are the way they are. Nature isn’t worried if you like it; in fact, it’s absolutely indifferent to you. This is the harsh reality about the facts. So, I say that lying is much more comforting than the truth. It is much more comforting to believe that there is life after the body's death than in the opposite idea, although there is no concrete evidence about it.

The knowledge of the truth does not come without a good deal of suffering. The first attitude of the prisoner freed in the myth of Plato’s cave is denial. The knowledge about the true nature of things causes him suffering, as he realizes that he has remained ignorant and deluded throughout his life. Perhaps he would prefer to remain that way, chained in ignorance chains. Ignorance is a blessing!

The word disillusionment has often been used in a derogatory sense, to express the loss of hope, disbelief, disappointment, a letdown. The disilluded person is sad, melancholic, depressed. However, disillusionment literally means “losing the illusion”. The person who knows the truth loses his illusion about the nature of things and facts. Losing the illusion means leaving your “comfort zone”. The person who knows the truth must be prepared for frustration.

If you prefer to believe those who swear nothing than those who swear falsely, frustration can be a constant feeling in your life. However, if someone says the Sun is over, you’ll have fun laughing while the others light candles.

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Ricardo Bastos Cunha
ILLUMINATION

Truth seeker. The truth is not what I want but what the evidence reveals. The truth doesn't care if I like it or not.