Truth Matters

I make every effort to be kind, but I have learned that there are times when it is necessary to be blunt and direct.  This year and this day is one of those times.

Truth is simple, if not always comfortable.  People's reactions to truth are not. 

People have personal truths.  If someone has lived through war, betrayal, abuse, systemic discrimination, or poverty, that person's perception of the world is different from the perspective of someone who has been relatively sheltered and protected. When the same facts are given to people from completely separate backgrounds and experiences, they will often process them differently. They see the same information, but their way of thinking and approaching them is likely to differ, It would not be unusual for them to initially focus on different aspects of the whole.  

Neither party is wrong or misinformed, as they both have the same facts, but if either is unwilling to listen without preconceived judgment to the other's reasoning, that refusal limits communication and growth. Educated, logical people can usually reach a consensus or compromise because individual interpretations do not negate the facts themselves. 

That said, facts can be delivered, stripped down to the basics, with no interpretation. Mathematicians, programmers, statisticians, actuaries, scientists, engineers, and physicists are examples of career fields where facts are standard tools of trade. They perform calculations and experiments that involve tests, replications, and controls.  Historically, they have recorded facts, positive, negative, or neutral, into databases and books to preserve them.

Facts can also be delivered with bias and manipulation.  People can deliver part of a single fact, or pieces of a whole set of facts to make information seem completely different than if all of the facts were provided.  Facts delivered in this way distort the truth.

People who refuse to consider or evaluate facts are doing one of two things: demonstrating ignorance or accepting manipulation.  

Facts are imperative when allocating funds, establishing policies, or making decisions that impact others.  Whether their importance is viewed on a small scale in individuals and families, on a larger scale in cities and states, or on a massive scale in countries and continents, facts are integral to our daily lives.

People who interpret facts are tasked with the challenge of responsibility.  They must make choices based on sound, fair judgments, and when they do not, the consequences of their bad decisions ripple out to touch us all.  Choices made by a leader in a powerful position, good or bad, can have impact for generations.  Abraham Lincoln is remembered as a wise man, while Adolph Hitler is remembered as a monster. 

Making good decisions in difficult circumstances requires wisdom and strength.  Personal beliefs, experience, and intuition inevitably come into play, and education can be invaluable.  Otherwise, as Tom Nichols points out in The Death of Expertise, "when you get invested in being aggressively dumb…well, the last thing you want to encounter are experts who disagree with you, and so you dismiss them in order to maintain your unreasonably high opinion of yourself."  Decision making criteria or style may vary, but refusal to consider or acknowledge facts should immediately cast doubt on one's integrity, intelligence, or both.

Facts must be a consideration for decision makers and leaders.  Creating "alternative facts" is called lying, and no matter how how one spins, twists, or paints the terminology, a lie is not truth.  Facts can be interpreted, explained, viewed, and put in various contexts.  Facts are still facts.  Truth is still truth.

We all bend the truth sometimes.  There are people who refuse to accept a truth that is inconvenient or upsetting, so their friends and family may fall into the habit of lying to avoid conflict.  Others lie in an attempt to avoid hurting someones feelings.  

We are not perfect beings. We make mistakes and bad choices.  We live in a real world that is often unkind and unforgiving.  Most of us try to do better and work to improve.

There is a difference between an occasional failure to tell the truth, and a clear and ongoing pattern of deception.  People who lie compulsively and without conscience are either master manipulators, mentally incompetent, or psychologically unhealthy.  Stephanie Sarkis Ph.D. explains in Psychology Today that gaslighting is a manipulative tactic that is used to gain power, and she examines why it works. 

In a society where governments are claiming that lies are truths, and students are creating fake news sites, it is important for people to understand how to find reliable news sources.  Respected journalist and educator Roy Peter Clark on Poynter. created a list to help people develop skills to identify reliable news sources and analyze government communications, because as he points out in 15 rules for a saner news experience, "People may be telling you the truth, but only a part of the truth."  

His guidelines are particularly timely when information that impacts the very fabric of our society is at stake.  The Sunlight Foundation, a nonprofit that advocates for open government, is a site to check for nonpartisan information.  Another site where you can see or search for data is OpenSecrets.org.

Educate yourself. The Constitution establishes US laws and, as a citizen, you are protected by The Bill of Rights. Mobilize to hold your congressional leaders accountable.  Remember that members of the House of Representatives are elected every two years, and one third of the US Senators will be up for re-election at the same time.   

We may have different beliefs, and we may have different preferences, but as a country, Americans should at least be able to agree that truth exists, and that lies and truths are not the same things.  The fact that we do not like a truth does not make it a lie.  The fact that we do not like news does not make it fake news.  The fact that we belong to a specific political party does not excuse a refusal to address integrity and dishonesty by our leaders.

"Truth does not require agreement." - @Pensights_Robin  

“Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty and truth and compassion against injustice and lying and greed. If people all over the world...would do this, it would change the earth.” - William Faulkner