Word of the year: post-truth

Events occurring and how they relate/affect Anabaptist faith and culture.
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Bootstrap
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Re: Word of the year: post-truth

Post by Bootstrap »

Wayne in Maine wrote:
Wayne in Maine wrote:I like the word "Drama-Queenery" myself. I only just discovered it, but I'm looking forward to using it: "Alright, enough of this drama queenery let's just solve the problem and get on with the job."
Brilliant and useful...I'll start test driving it out here in MN immediately (although, in my head, it probably plays best with a rather thick Boston accent). :)
Well said. It's pretty easy to see whether they are trying to inform people or get them all riled up. Do they make you think or do they make you feel? Can you trace the things they are saying back to facts that you can actually verify?
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MaxPC
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Re: Word of the year: post-truth

Post by MaxPC »

Dan Z wrote:Interesting...

I think the word is a salient choice...and appropriate.

Off the top of my head, there seem to be a number of related things feeding the post-truth context that seems so rampant today:
  • 1) The rise of post-modernism, which casts doubt on the existence of objective truth in the first place.

    2) The related devaluation of critical thinking, and the type of education that gives people tools for critical thought.

    3) The overwhelming volume of information being dumped upon us all, flooding our ability to effectively sort out objective truth from more subjective pseudo-facts.

    4) Confirmation Bias: Our human tendency to (often erroneously) interpret/understand events in a way that confirmed their presuppositions and core beliefs.

    5) The echo-chamber effect: The fact that we tend to get our information from voices that affirm our belief system, and tune out opposing points of view.

    6) Our human tenancy to be intellectually lazy. "There is no expedient to which a man will not resort to avoid the real labor of thinking" - Sir Joshua Reynolds


    7) Valuing social relationships over and above objective truth.
I'd like to mention 8) If the debate/election is lost, make up new words to create new yet undefined and nebulous issues instead of truly addressing the reality of existing problems.

Another good reason to get out and work on Christian discipleship in real life helping others and thereby helping oneself.
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Dan Z
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Re: Word of the year: post-truth

Post by Dan Z »

I see what you are saying Max...especially in light of the worldview divide borne out in politics today. But I wouldn't be too dismissive of the idea. I think there is something to it...election or not.

From my POV, I have seen the phenomenon at play in most areas where an objective reality is being discussed - e.g. science, philosophy, and even religion. In other words, I don't think this term (and more importantly the ideas behind it) is just a result of reacting to lost elections/referendums - I believe there is a destructive "post-truth" zeitgeist at play and gaining strength in the western world today.

Oh...I was reflecting the other day on this, and I would probably add "anti-intellectualism" to my list above, likely fed at a deeper level by an "anti-institutionalism" that distrusts organizational conclusions and efforts.
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Josh
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Re: Word of the year: post-truth

Post by Josh »

Liberals decided to tell everyone that boys can be girls, men can marry other men, and that Islam is a pure, peaceful religion and the only hateful, violent religion is Christianity.

In short, a lot of people don't see liberals as in touch at all with truth anymore, or with any ability to be unbiased.

I'd like to see us Christians lay claim to truth and really believe it. We will need to quit reading WorldNetDaily and LifeSiteNews. On the other hand, outlets like Breitbart have displayed a desire for more truth, not less.

Let's keep discerning and let's not fall into the same trap the left did.
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Re: Word of the year: post-truth

Post by Bootstrap »

Conservatives and liberals can both be post-truth. For what it's worth, I think conservatives and liberals can both be authoritarian, too. It's a lot easier to think clearly about these issues if you treat them separately.
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Josh
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Re: Word of the year: post-truth

Post by Josh »

Bootstrap wrote:Conservatives and liberals can both be post-truth. For what it's worth, I think conservatives and liberals can both be authoritarian, too. It's a lot easier to think clearly about these issues if you treat them separately.
You've got to admit this is a bigger problem for liberals in our culture right now, though. And they pair with an attitude that they have an exclusive monopoly on what truth and science are.
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Re: Word of the year: post-truth

Post by PeterG »

Josh wrote:You've got to admit this is a bigger problem for liberals in our culture right now, though.
I'm not so sure. Any attempt to compare the relationships of left and right to truth, especially in the form of an internet discussion, is likely to be inconclusive at best. I do think it's true that liberals are much more likely than conservatives to deny the existence of absolute, objective moral truth (so if that's all you meant, I agree with you), but I don't think that a belief in moral absolutes is of any benefit if those absolutes are incorrectly identified. Myself and the people of ISIS both agree about the existence of moral absolutes, but we sure do disagree about what they are, and it makes a big difference.
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Bootstrap
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Re: Word of the year: post-truth

Post by Bootstrap »

Josh wrote:
Bootstrap wrote:Conservatives and liberals can both be post-truth. For what it's worth, I think conservatives and liberals can both be authoritarian, too. It's a lot easier to think clearly about these issues if you treat them separately.
You've got to admit this is a bigger problem for liberals in our culture right now, though. And they pair with an attitude that they have an exclusive monopoly on what truth and science are.
That's what conservatives think. Liberals think the opposite, with equal fervor. I think they're both wrong. In fact, just by fervently thinking the "other side" has no grasp on the truth, each side excuses itself from seriously seeking it.

Seek truth fervently.
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Re: Word of the year: post-truth

Post by KingdomBuilder »

Josh wrote:You've got to admit this is a bigger problem for liberals in our culture right now, though. And they pair with an attitude that they have an exclusive monopoly on what truth and science are.
Well conservatives counter that with an attitude that they have an exclusive monopoly on morality & Faith.
If I had to pick which concerns me most, it'd be the latter.
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Bootstrap
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Re: Word of the year: post-truth

Post by Bootstrap »

You know, when I'm not on MN, I don't usually think in terms of liberals versus conservatives. I think about what the problems are with education, what things have been tried, what seems to have worked, the ways that civil discourse is breaking down, what it would take to get people talking with each other again, the ways that Christians seem to be excusing even flagrant disregard for basic morality, how Christianity is becoming more and more foreign to the culture around us ...

Maybe a first step toward truth is to stop worrying about whose truth it is, and to stop slapping labels on each person as a way of characterizing whether what they say is true.

Truth is the first casualty of war. If we want truth, we may need to call off the war.
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