As a society, we appear to be losing our mooring for truth. Everyone seems to have their own version, and each viewpoint has its own “fact checkers.” How did we get to such a point?
If you will, follow along with me on a thought experiment.
What if we awoke tomorrow and found we had traveled through a wormhole to another world? The world we find ourselves in appears to be a perfect copy of the one we left. Opening our eyes, we find we are in our house, on our street, and in our community.
But something is different. Looking around, we notice our phone is missing, there is no TV, and someone has taken the book we were reading. In fact, there is nothing in the entire house that communicates anything from the outside world. There are no newspapers, magazines, books, clocks, computers, or iPads.
This is the world that existed for 98% of human history.
I constructed the thought experiment to reflect on truth in the absence of internet and media influence to address questions like:
What is truth?
Where does it come from?
Is there such a thing as universal truth?
Most importantly, I wanted to investigate whether or not the nature of truth has changed in our modern digital era.
Media ecologist Andrey Mir claims that it has in his just-published book, Digital Future In the Rearview Mirror. It’s a fascinating read. Mir believes Marshall McLuhan was right. McLuhan advanced the theory that the method of communication has a greater impact on society than the messages being communicated. (Think Gutenberg press, telegraph, telephone, radio, television, and now smartphones) His famous quote was, “The media is the message.” Mir takes a hard look at that proposition with respect to our digital communication era.
From a historical perspective, the nature of truth has indeed changed over time. Following the Enlightenment, truth became more objective, logic-driven, and proof-oriented. According to Mir, objective truth is a by-product of literacy.
It was different in pre-literate societies when feudal lords, shamans, and superstitions informed people’s thoughts. In those days, truth was a practical consideration. According to Mir: “Pre-literate truth was conditional, negotiated, and tested by outcomes.” Relational truths served to maintain tribal loyalty and ensure survival. One had to stick with their folks regardless of whether they were right or wrong. Does that sound familiar?
It appears that truth is regressing in our digital age; objective truth is losing ground to relational truths.
AI further complicates the issue. Recently, a friend shared the following picture:
AI design by @studiodearborn
It’s a beautiful kitchen! Except, it’s not real. An AI-enabled design studio created the picture. If one were to send fact-checkers out to verify its existence, they would come back empty-handed.
So, is it a “true” kitchen?
I suppose that depends. While the kitchen doesn’t exist, it does provide utility for people interested in kitchen designs. The picture provides a hint of what’s to come. Soon, AI will be writing prose, composing music, and producing videos that will be indistinguishable from human creations. Will that be true art? Maybe so; art is defined by the beholder. But does the same thing apply to truth?
In the digital age, the answer appears to be yes.
Today, we relegate oral storytelling traditions to myth. Interestingly, American writer Joseph Campbell defines myth as “Something that never happened but is always true.”
The modern world values truth in an objective sense. Claims lacking physical or logical proof are usually cast aside, at least until recently. More and more, digital micro-climates are revitalizing relational truth. Conspiracy theorists and fringe groups flood the internet with unsubstantiated claims that followers passionately believe and act upon.
Relational truth is also making a mainstream comeback. Politically speaking, it has become normative. Progressive Democrats and Maga Trumpers advance their own conflicting truths. Relational truth is also challenging modern scientific authority. Exhibit A is vaccine guidance.
Upon what standard do we measure truth? Scientific validation, independent verification, or tribal affiliation? Over the course of human history, that answer has varied, and it appears to be changing again.
Considering the matter of truth, I come to a disturbing conclusion: From a behavioral standpoint, there may, in fact, be no such thing as universal truth. Truth is not so much what is seen as it is the way by which we see. Individual truths live in innumerable guises beyond fact.
Where does that leave us?
Truth is complicated. Logic and objectivity don’t address its emotional content. There will likely never be a broad consensus on what is true. People naturally disagree on matters of deep personal importance.
Therefore, the question of truth, from a practical standpoint, boils down to what kind of society we choose to advance: a pluralistic society open to the free exchange of ideas or a polarized society characterized by hatred and violence.
Today, the United States is becoming increasingly illiberal. Tolerance for alternative ideas is plummeting. It’s common to dehumanize and disassociate with those with whom we disagree. This is a dangerous trend that should invite us to pause and consider the hubris of our certainties. What is more important, our conflicting truths or our collective Union?
The answer to that question brings Benjamin Franklin and another tumultuous time to mind. Upon signing The Declaration of Independence, Franklin reportedly said, “We must all hang together, or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.” The world is becoming increasingly dangerous, and Franklin’s quote provides guidance that bears consideration.
I’ll close with song lyrics from my youth that provide a relevant summary:
“Cold-hearted orb that rules the night
Removes the colors from our sight
Red is grey, and yellow-white
But we decide which is right
And which is an illusion?”
-Moody Blues 1967, Days of Future Passed
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Tim—BRILLIANT !! I had not thought about the CHANGE in this manner or with those background thoughts and readings of yours……BUT we are changing and we are no longer trusting the ” collective word or thought ” like we did over the early part of our lives. There is so much information and noise-speak going around and no matter what one person says there are another 10+ that are right there to jump on it—deny it, criticize it, even yell at it —- that it is almost not worth ones while to even turn on the news or think about what was originally said. The World comes at you and is critically explained and dissected across so many sources that are very prejudiced in all different directions that we have beaten down collective thought. We are headed back to TRIBAL isolation and thought—– this group thinks this, and that group thinks that, and that other group even thinks about it in a totally different manner !! It makes one dizzy thinking about anything or listening to anything—- and we are beginning to retreat to our smaller group of fellow thinkers—- and I do not like it nor do I think it is good for the common person across different lands and cultures as we will no longer trust folks from groups other than our own.
Then put the advent of AI on top of that and oh my God—- one can only imagine the confusion ahead of us and the World.
All My Best— Wren.
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