Truthifixion

Jesus said "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life" (caps mine). At the considerable risk of dragging Jesus into a secular debate - a tactic I despise - He is the ultimate authority on Truth (caps mine), so a look at his life is instructive. He was murdered for speaking Truth and being the very embodiment of Truth. Why such a violent reaction to the reality of the existence of Truth - the very question the Roman governor Pontius Pilate asked during Jesus' trial? I believe it was that Truth threatens. The Romans were threatened by the perceived disruption of the peace of Roman power. The Jewish establishment was threatened by a loss of influence and a potential shift in their ideology and power. The Roman establishment reacting to that threat was a hypocritical misuse of the very order their law had brought about, with a legal proceeding that was decidedly illegal in its application, being a perverted format that not only allowed them to claim that Jesus had due process, but whose end had to be ensured by conspiracy (bribes to the guards at the tomb).

The rational arguments of the some of the ruling Jews (who ruled only the Jews and the Temple) were ignored by the majority, who leveraged the corruption of the Roman legal system by bribing Judas, and perverting Jesus' statements of spiritual Truth to make Jesus seem like an anti-government rebel.

The crowd demanding Jesus' crucifixion in the light of Pontius Pilate's offer of clemency may have included some who, just days earlier, had proclaimed Jesus to be worthy of praise and honor. What was their motivation other than to affiliate with the Jewish leaders' account and label him in league with the devil and stay in the "in" group?

Using Jesus as a discussion starting point is not a theological treatise here, just an illustration of several challenges we all have in defining, discerning, and discovering the truth of a matter. (And to bolster my use of the word truthifixion that I made up - truth crucified and juxtoposed with a word similar to "fiction". I suggest inserting the little copyright symbol if you use my word. It deserves to be repeated and I want credit.) But I digress. The main point of my lecture is that as much as we seek the truth of a matter, we must use equal energy and brain cells to disbelieve. The probability that you're being deceived (as opposed to outright being lied to, although that, too) is much higher than the probability that what you think is true is actually the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. I hope that all of my police academy students remember Shults' First Law of Police Work: Don't trust anybody. I stand behind that statement.

Scientific findings back me up on this. I'm not going to cite my sources; that's between you and AI to discover, but surveys of beliefs correlated to news sources shows that opinions will differ depending on whether one consumes mostly broadcast, internet, or published information. I think we all know, and ignore, that different sources choose what "news" to report, what vocabulary to use, and what to editorialize. It's not so much that the medium of our messages are lying to us, but that we are lying to ourselves to believe what we ingest. 

The other science here is what happens in our brain when we hear or see information (I'm avoiding using the word "facts", which are often in dispute). We are wired such that negative information attracts our attention much more profoundly than neutral or positive information. The sky may be beautifully blue with delightful fluffy clouds, but our focus is on the ground to be sure that the stick on the sidewalk is not a venomous snake. News producers, bloggers, influencers, TikTokkers, and podcasters all want your attention - even this rant, which is being sent into the ether with low expectations - we all want clicks, affirmations, debate, rage, or whatever else can raise your blood pressure and activate your limbic system. We are all being played. No one monetizes media by telling stories of rescued puppies and monkeys reading to first graders and harpists volunteering at old folks' homes. 

Clearly, there are things going on in the world, near and far, that are disturbing and that demand our attention and perhaps some action in response. It is our response that must be carefully calculated beyond the mere venting of our frustrations. A review of the Serenity Prayer might be in order.

I am tempted to give a listicle of FIVE WAYS TO KNOW WHEN YOU'RE BEING MANIPULATED, NUMBER FOUR WILL BLOW YOU AWAY! If I did, I'd say 1) assume bias from any source, 2) insist on context for interpreting a narrative or video, 3) watch for hyperbole in vocabulary choice - connotation can be subtle, 4) recognize rage bait by your visceral reaction and recalibrate your response, 5) notice when persons are described by labels rather than objectively observable behavior. Let's not be naive about the motives of those who want to be the loudest voices. I'm whispering now.

When I was in charge of securing our campus housing, we tried to tell people to be careful when they swiped their key cards not to let some unauthorized person "tailgate" and come in without permission. We need to be careful about ideas tailgating our thoughts. We need filters and boundaries. Just because we agree with someone's claim or an idea in a meme doesn't give it permission to enter our brain's logic process (remember logic?) I took a class in college called Rhetoric, the original meaning of which is "the art of persuasion". We have now twisted that fine word to mean useless, biased speech. I'd love to see real rhetoric again. I have a dream.

Now, what do we do with the knowledge that we are what we eat and we eat a lot of junk (metaphor)? I dare not prescribe such a thing, since I doubt there is anything like a balanced meal (continuing to torture the metaphor) in the collection of information. I suppose that many readers (if there are many) have already ascribed my writing to be partisan. If you read this and day "yeah, but..." there's the evidence. I'd just say be careful what you feed your brain, balance it with healthy human connection, laughter, rest, and coffee.