The era of post-truth, post-veracity and charlatanism

To start with, the post-truth era makes reference to the proliferation of fake news on the internet, such as insulting comments that are almost defamatory and ... Contenidoprincipal Iralcontenidoprincipal Rutadenavegación Estásen:  Ciencia,RazónyFe Recursos Cienciayverdad Theeraofpost-truth,post-veracityandcharlatanism Menúdenavegación OrigendelUniverso Naturalezaypersona Evolución Cienciayverdad Cienciayreligión Orden,complejidadyfinalidad enlaceversioncastellanoerapostverdad Versiónencastellano txterapostverdadenglish Theeraofpost-truth,post-veracityandcharlatanism Author:MartínMontoyaCamacho,Professorof dePhilosophyintheUniversityofNavarra(Spain). Publishedin:+1AddingStories Aversionofthisarticlewaspublishedin Palabra magazine Dateofpublication:2019 ManySpanishjournalistsandpoliticalanalystscategorised2016asthe posverdad year.Thiswordisatranslationofpost-truth,wordoftheyearin2016accordingtoOxfordDictionaries.Itsmeaningreferstosomethingthatdenotescircumstancesinwhichobjectivefactsarenotasinfluential,intermsofformingpublicopinion,asanappealtopersonalemotionsandbeliefs.Thereforewhoeverwishestoinfluencepublicopinionshouldconcentrateonthecreationofdiscoursethatiseasytoaccept,andplaceanemphasisonwhatwillsatisfytheemotionsandbeliefsoftheaudience,insteadofrealfacts. Therefore,inashortspaceoftime,theAssociationfortheGermanLanguagedeclaredthat postfaktisch wouldbechosenwordoftheyearfor2016.AndinSpanishtheBBVAFundéuFoundationnominatedtheword posverdad forasimilaraward. Post-truthhasoftenbeenidentifiedwithlies.Inmanytypeofmediaithasbeenconcludedthatpost-truthisnotnew:lieshavealwaysexistedandthereforeitisaneologismwhichistheresultofawhim.So,shouldwetakethiswordseriously? Thebirthofanera Thetermpost-truthwasusedforthefirsttimeintheNorth-Americanpressin1992,inanarticleby SteveTesich in TheNationmagazine.Tesich,whenwritingabouttheWatergatescandalandtheIraqwar,indicatedthatatthattimewehadalreadyacceptedwewerelivinginapost-truthera,inwhichliesaretoldindiscriminatelyandfactsarehidden.However,itwasinthebookentitled ThePost-TruthEra (2004),by RalphKeyes,whenthetermachievedacertaindegreeofconceptualdevelopment. Keyesindicatedatthetimethatweliveinapost-trutherabecauseitscreedhassettledamongus:creativemanipulationcantakeusbeyondthekingdomofmereexactitudetothekingdomofthenarrationoftruth.Embellishedinformationispresentedastrueinspirit,andtruerthantruthitself.Keyes’definitionoffersakeytounderstandingthefactsoccurringin previousmonths.Wewillcomebacktothisshortly.Butfirstweshouldaskourselves: howdidwegettothispost-truthera? Tounderstandhowitispossibletofindourselvesinatimelikethis,certainfactorshavetobetakenintoconsiderationrelatedtothemediasourcesthatpropagatenews.Tostartwith,thepost-trutheramakesreferencetotheproliferationoffakenewsontheinternet,suchasinsultingcommentsthatarealmostdefamatoryandareuploadedeverydayontoonlinecommunicationplatforms,ordiscreditinginstitutionsthroughcomments–oftenanonymous-postedonthesamemediasource. Inherarticle“Howtechnologydisruptedthetruth”, KatharineViner,directorof TheGuardian, notedthatbehindallofthisthereisintentionalmisrepresentationofthefactsinsomeofthedigitalmediathatrepresentaspecificsocialandpoliticalstance.However,therearealsoeffortsfromthistypeofmediatoattractvisitorstotheirplatformswithnootherpurposethantomaintainabusinessthatsellswhatthepublicwants. VinerexplainsthatthisispossibleduetothealgorithmsthatfeedthenewssourcesofsearchenginessuchasFacebookorGoogle,whicharedesignedtoofferthepublicwhattheywant.Forthedirectorof TheGuardian, thismeansthattheversionoftheworldthatwefindeverydaywhenweopenourpersonalportalsorthroughthesearchesweperformonGooglehasbeninvisiblyfilteredinordertoreinforceourownbeliefs. Informationconsumptionisontherise Thereisthereforeanefforttomouldsourcesofinformation,andcontent,touserstastes.InaccordancewithKeyes’definition,wecansaythatweareshownanembellishedversionofthetruthwhichisconfiguredaccordingtoourowntastes,somethingweacceptastruerthantherealtruefacts. AfewyearsagoitwouldsurpriseustofindadvertisementstobuyproductswehadseenonAmazonjustafewhoursbeforeonawebsitesomewhere.Todaythisisjustaregularevent. Itseemslike,nowadays,thestrategythatisappliedtosellingproductsontheinternetisalsousedinthecaseofthenews wewanttoconsume.Thiscannotseemstrangetous.AreportbythePewResearchCenterrevealedafewmonthsagothathalfofNorth-Americansbetweentheagesof18and30consumenewsitemsviainternetplatforms,andthatthisisagrowingtrend.Therefore,themarketfortheconsumptionofinformationwillnotstopincreasing,andthestrategyofgivingtheclientwhattheywantisthewaytoachievetheirloyalty.Itistruethatthepurchaseofnewsinthistypeofmediaisnotabundant,butthisiswherethemaximumopportunityexistsforanimpactonfutureconsumers. Thismeansthat,whenusingelectronicplatformsitwillbecomelessandlesslikelytofindinformationthatwillchallengeus,thatwillbroadenourworldviewortodiscoverfactsthatrefutefalseinformation. EvenforasocialnetworkthatisasflexibleasTwitter,thiscanbethecase,duetotheconstantpublicationofthetweetslikedthemostbyfollowers.However,itwouldbeabsurdtoattributealloftheblameforthepost-trutheratothemediaanditsstrategiesfortransmittinginformation.Itisclearthattheblamemustbeattributedtothepeoplewholie,thusmisrepresentingthetruefacts.Butitseemsitisalsoimportanttoexamine,albeitbriefly,anattitudethatcanbefoundamongusersorconsumersandwhichisourdirectresponsibility. Post-truthandmistrust Inthe ThePost-TruthEra RalphKeyesindicatedthattheimmediateconsequenceofpost-truthispost-veracity.Thisinvolvesalackoftrustinpublicdiscourse,notduetothecontent,whichmaybetrueandevenpossibletoprovescientifically.Themistrustgeneratedbypost-truthisbasedonthefactthatthemessagecanserveahiddenpurpose,whichisnotdesiredbytheaudience. Doesthisideareflectsomethingrealaboutoursocietyandthewaywebehaveinit? Itseemslikepost-truthcanonlyariseintimeslikenow,wherethereisanattitudeofdiscreditingpublicdiscoursebecauseweexpectthatinformationtonottransmitthewholetruth.Wemightthinkthatweshouldavoidbeingdramatic,sincewecontinuetoconsumenews,andalotofcontentthatistruecontinuestobeprovided.However,largesectorsofsocietybelievethattruthhaslostitsvalue,thatithasbeendemolishedandislyingonthegroundinitsfinaldeaththroes. Thinkingthattruthcanbeassassinatedmayleaveusperplexed,butthisiswhathasbeenhappeningintermsofitsvalueinsociety.Forthatreasontheissueofpost-truthisnotsuperfluous.ForKeyestheproblemresidesinthefactthatwecanbegovernedbyit,andactivelyparticipateinthisdynamicwithoutrealisingit.Thiscouldoccurthroughanattitudederivedfromthejustificationofourownlies,sowe becomeaccustomedtolivinginanenvironmentinwhichthetruthisdiscriminatedagainstdependingonourpersonalinterests. Thiscanhappenwhenwedon’treflectonthesourcesofthenewsweconsumeor,inabroaderviewofcircumstances,whenweremoveourgazefromthepointsofviewwedonotlike.Sometimeswerunawayfromallofthiswithoutstoppingtothinkabouthowthingscanbeseenfromanotherperspective,simplybecausewedon’twanttobecheated.Asifeverythingthatdoesn’tcoincidewithourideascanbeclassifiedasfalseadvertising. JasonStanley,inhisbook HowPropagandaWorks (2015)explainedthatacertaintypeofauthoritarianpropagandacandestroytheprincipleoftrustinsociety,thusunderminingdemocracy.Howeveritisalsotruethatnoteveryuseoflanguagethataltersrealityisalie.Thereisalwaysalittlebitoftruththere.However,totackleit,itisimportanttohavecriticalskillsandanattitudeofapproachingitwithoutmistrust,butwithafreespiritthatisreinforcedthroughcarefulstudyofreality. Evenalthoughtheeraofpost-truthhasimpactedourtimeswithacertainamountofforce,usersorconsumershavethelastword,theyarefreepeoplewhocandecidetore-establishthevalueoftruth.Thismeansavoidinglies,yourownandthoseofothers,andavoidingbecomingaccustomedtolivingincircumstancesinwhichfalsehoodisusual.Rejectinganylackoftruthinanywaypossible,howeversubtleitmaybe. Superficialcharlatanism InaninterviewintheBelgianCatholicweeklypublication Tertio,PopeFrancismadereferencetoseveraloftheseissues.Heparticularlycondemnedthedamagethatthemediacancausewhentheyventureintodefamationbypublishingfakenews.Inhisdirectstyle,theHolyFatherexplainedthatmisinformationinthepressisterrible,evenifwhatispublishedistrue,sincethemajorityofpeoplehaveatendencytoconsumethismisinformationindiscriminately.Therefore,heexplained,alotofdamagecanbedoneandhecomparedthetrendofconsumingfalsehoodsandhalf-truths,tocoprophagy. ThewordsofthePopearenotanecdotalandholdmoreweightthanmaybeperceivedatfirstglance.ThiscanbeappreciatedmoreifwecomparecoprophagywiththetermusedinEnglishtonameoneofthemostsubtletypesofmisrepresentationofthetruth,bullshit.ThistermwasrecentlytranslatedintoSpanishascharlatanismintheworkoftheNorthAmericanphilosopher, HarryFrankfurt. Inhisbookentitled OnBullshit (2013),HarryG.Frankfurtindicatedthatitislessintentionalthanwemaythink.Whenwelieweconcentrateondoingso,butcharlatanismdoesnotrequireeffortbecauseitisinadvertentlyspontaneous:thepresentationoffactsissimplyomitted.Charlatansretainacleardistinctionbetweenwhatistrueandfalse,butbecausetheyarenotconcernedaboutthevalueofthetruth,theycanuseafacttodefendonepositionandtheoppositeposition. Charlatanshavenointentionofmisrepresentingreality,buttheysimplyhavenointentionsatalltowardsreality.Theirintentionsarefocusedexclusivelyonthemselves,onthesuperficialityoftheirprojectsor,inthecaseofspecificmediaorusers,ontheirownpropaganda.Lieshavealwayscaughtourattention.Thisisunderstandable.Theactoflyinginvolvesamaliciousnessthatisrepellenttous.Inordertotellalieyouneedtohavetheintentiontodoso.Itisnotasimpleslipup,youneedtoworkonit.Forliarsthetruthhasavalueaccordingtotheirownpurposes,whichiswheretheirinterestinmanipulatingitstemsfrom.Howeveracharlatandoesnotcareaboutthis,andthisattitudecancausealotofdamage,whichiswhathashappenedinthispost-truthera. Charlatanismiscontagious,saidFrankfurt.Someofthatmayspreadtousasconsumersofinformationwhenwedon’tpayattentiontothenewswepropagateonsocialnetworks.Wearenotexemptfromresponsibilitybyparticipatinginsomewayindefamatoryacts,evenwhenitseemslikewhatwearedoingisnotsignificant,orwethinkthatwhatwehavetransmittedistrue.Whenthishappens,itisbecausewehavestoppedthinkingaboutthefactthatlanguageisnotonlyavehicleforfacts,figures,strategies,demonstrationsandrefutations,butalsoabearerofvalues.Itisimportanttotakeintoaccountthatknowledgeofwhatistrueorfalse,whileimportant,doesnotsufficientlysetoutwhatisneededtodojusticetoothers,andtoactoutofrealcharitablefeelings.¡ Acharlatanisembodiedbyanymediasourcethattransmitsnewsorusersthatconsumeitandthenredistributeit,theyarethemaincontributorstopost-truth:theypromotemistrustandtensioninsociety.Forthatreason,itisimportanttorecognisetheimportanceofwhattheinformationwearemanagingrefersto. Wecannotaccepteverything.Reflectingonwhetherwerespectthetruth,andtryingtoavoidmanipulatingitonawhimwillallowustorestoreitstruevalue.