Post-Truth Becomes Reality: A Call to Action for Factual Truth-Telling in a Society Disillusioned with Facts
As Donald Trump's 2024 election victory has left many Americans feeling disoriented and misled by the falsehoods of his campaign, it is clear that we are facing a crisis of trust in our institutions and each other. The phrase "post-truth" has become a refrain for those who have lost faith in the power of factual truth to guide us.
However, I would argue that this phrase overstates the problem and underestimates the human desire for truth. As Daniel Patrick Moynihan once said, "Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not to their own facts." This distinction between personal opinions and verifiable facts has never been more important in our current social and political climate.
The consequences of neglecting fact-based decision-making are all too familiar. Factual lies can quickly snowball into a culture of misinformation, where leaders and ideologies claim ownership over reality. As Philip Roth astutely observed, such situations often result in "malignant normality" - the normalization of falsehoods to the point where they become the only truth that is accepted.
It's a bleak picture indeed when we witness a society succumbing to the numbing effects of constant falsehoods. Yet, research suggests that telling the truth has the power to provide psychological relief and even foster a sense of hope.
My own work in studying war survivors, Vietnam veterans, and Nazi doctors has shown me the importance of witnessing and sharing the truths I've encountered. This commitment to factual truth-telling is at the heart of my own activist research and has provided a strong source of hope for our country's future.
In contrast to the "weird" normalcy advocated by Trump, the Democratic ticket of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz embodied the very values of factual truth. Their focus on verifiable facts over personal narratives was a refreshing respite from a campaign that promoted a fabricated reality.
While our society is not perfect, I firmly believe we have the capacity to choose life-enhancing ethics over destructive ones. By choosing fact-based decision-making and speaking truth to power, we can overcome our current crisis of trust and forge a more compassionate and responsible future for all people.
As the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Nihon Hidankyo for its antinuclear activism attests, the struggle for factual truth is a crucial one. We cannot expect to eliminate falsehood entirely; but by joining forces on behalf of decency, necessity, and satisfaction of truth-telling, we can cultivate trust in our institutions and each other.
This is not an exercise in cynicism, but rather an urgent call to action - to seek out genuine facts over partisan narratives, listen for the truth beyond echo chambers, and engage with open-hearted skepticism. Only by doing so can we restore faith in our shared humanity and reclaim the power of factual truth to guide us forward.
Author's Note: This opinion and analysis article represents the views expressed by the author or authors and are not necessarily those of Scientific American.