Memo To The Media: Stop The False Equivalency!

"As Americans gear up for the election, Bill Adair warns of an 'epidemic of lying' in U.S. politics -- particularly within the Republican Party. Adair joins the show to discuss his new book "Beyond the Lie." As founder of the fact-checking website PolitiFact, Adair is well placed to account for where disinformation comes from, how it spreads, and the danger it poses to democracy."

Click on the link below for the effects of accepting the lies of the Republicans/MAGA/Trump:

PolitiFact Founder Explains the “Epidemic of Lying” in American Politics

Truth: Stop Arguing About It, Understand It!

"What is truth? You can speak of moral truths and aesthetic truths, but I’m not concerned with those here, important as they may be. By truth I shall mean the kind of truth that a commission of inquiry or a jury trial is designed to establish. I hold the view that scientific truth is of this commonsense kind, although the methods of science may depart from common sense, and its truths may even offend it."

Three years ago, Richard Dawkins presented one of the best explanations of the meaning of truth. Click on the link below for such:

Science: The Gold Standard of Truth

Truth: The Most Abused Word

Truth: in accord with fact or reality (Webster's Dictionary)

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"Absolute truth is a statement that is true at all times and in all places. It is something that is always true no matter what the circumstances.[1] It is a fact that cannot be changed. For example, there are no round squares.[2] There are also no square circles.[2] The angles of a triangle add up to 180 degrees. These are all true by definition. Very similar are the propositions of Euclid, because they are proved once the axioms are accepted. One way or another, these are all truths because they are logically true. 

"Absolute truths are different from empirical truths. All the findings of science are empirical: based on evidence, and even if they are true in this world they don't need to be so in all the other possible worlds; they might also be wrong or incomplete due to lack of sufficient evidence. On the other hand, absolute truths might be based on logical truths, which are true by definition of their axioms." (Wikipedia)

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"Religious views on truth vary both between and within religions. *The most universal concept of religion that holds true in every case is the inseparable nature of truth and religious belief.

(*all religious opinions can't be correct, and none of them can verify/justify their beliefs)

"Truth is the sine qua non (without which, not) of politics. When lies overpower truth, politics dies. When politics dies, our world collapses, and we humans die too—because it is only in the world, among other humans, that we exist." " - - - We talk about polarization and the impossibility of dialogue, and what we mean is that we are no longer engaged in politics: We are not making a society together. This predicament is consistent with Arendt’s assertion that politics is impossible in the absence of truth.(link)

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"However common it is to hear talk of “my truth, “your truth,” “her truth,” and even “no truth,” it’s worth asking: Is any of this actually true? We’re going to try and persuade you that this question matters most—making the case that

  a shared pursuit of truth (shaped by our unique perceptions, yes—but not completely constrained by them) is the only thing that makes conversation truly meaningful. 

If we enter into a conversation assuming that the truth itself is common to us both, yet recognizing that we don’t see it the same way, then we can at least begin to compare and contrast our perceptions of reality in order to sift out the truthful wheat from the troublesome chaff (exaggerations, omissions, mistakes, errors, lies, fake news, etc.)." (link)

Republicans don't respect the concept

Robert Reich's Final Essay On The Common Good

"Truth is the most basic of common goods. As the late senator and professor Daniel Patrick Moynihan once said, everyone is entitled to their own opinions but not their own facts.

"When we accept lies as facts, or illogic as logic, we lose the shared reality necessary to tackle our common problems. We become powerless."

Truth as a common good

I Have A Dream

This phrase is famously attached to Martin Luther King, Jr.'s speech delivered on August 28, 1963, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial (link). I can't think of a more powerful speech of unity and love. However, in reality, the USA is very far from achieving the speech's ideals. This link points to the extreme fragmentation of political opinion in the USA preventing significant agreement regarding how to achieve societal well-being.

MY "dream" of unity and love involves achieving a consensus agreement on what is "Truth" and how to best understand it and apply it to the benefit of society as a whole. The vast majority of USA society is religious, uses alternatives to medicine, believes in conspiracy theories, and otherwise believes in various pseudosciences (false knowledge). All of these beliefs/practices are harmful (peruse this blog for support for this fact). The ONLY alternative to this false knowledge problem is agreeing to only accept claims based on good objective evidence. Ideally, this would negate the role of traditional political parties (many Founding Fathers were leery of political parties due to factionalization of voters (link)). If one requires a name for the political movement I am presenting, how about the Sci Party?

Why Is Christianity So Splintered?

From its beginning, Christianity could not agree on anything. Because of the complicity with the Romans (see Constantine), Christianity, under the Catholic Church, created an official monopoly on "Truth (tm)" and evolved into the most powerful force in Christianity that we are living with today. In spite of this situation, the disagreements within Christianity persist, and each entity claims that THEY have the "Truth (tm)". Why?

Unlike science, where it is possible to form a consensus on a topic, Christianity, and virtually all organized religions, have no tool to do so. The latter relies on philosophy and theology, which don't have a way to justify/verify opinions. 

If you disagree with anything above, I suggest you peruse in detail all of the posts in my "Featured Post" page above, and especially those labeled "Religion/Christianity." Peace. 

If A Statement Feels Good, Does That Make It True?

 "If you repeat something enough times, it comes to feel good and true."

The above statement is a key to understanding the success of both advertisements and indoctrination. Click on the link below for a brief video showing that the ways information is presented to us can significantly affect how we interpret such.

The Illusion of Truth

Does Science Justify Itself?

KNOWLEDGE philosophically is commonly taken to mean JUSTIFIED, true belief (link). A conflict persists over whether science depends on its justification on philosophy or is independent of such. The following article delves into the matter. Anyone who knows me knows that I support the latter. After reading this, I will let you decide. However, if you disagree with me, please refute this from the article: "- - - philosophy itself has no way of justifying its tenets."

Click on the link below:

Science is a product of science!

Christopher Columbus: Hero Or Monster?

Anyone paying attention to the media during Columbus Day will note that there has been a noticeable change in public opinion regarding the character of Christopher Columbus. Below please find links to some representative examples of different perceptions of the man and his motives:

The typical Catholic whitewashing

Was Christopher Columbus a Hero or Villain?

9 reasons Christopher Columbus was a murderer, tyrant, and scoundrel

Columbus and Genocide

Coard: Five facts proving Columbus was one of history's worst monsters

10 Facts About Christopher Columbus

11 Christopher Columbus Facts That Most Of Us Learned - But Are Totally Wrong

The Truth of Christopher Columbus

Please note that only the first link overlooks the truth. Ironically, the Catholic Church constantly promotes itself as "The Truth."

A Detailed Look At "Alternative Facts"

"McIntyre, whose book is perhaps the most thoughtful of the post-truth set, also urges us to root out untruth before it festers. But he calls for introspection, even humility, in this battle. 'One of the most important ways to fight back against post-truth is to fight it within ourselves,' he writes, whatever our particular politics may be. 'It is easy to identify a truth that someone else does not want to see. But how many of us are prepared to do this with our own beliefs? To doubt something that we want to believe, even though a little piece of us whispers that we do not have all the facts?'”

Can truth survive this president? An honest investigation.

Truth

How many times have you seen the word "Truth", with the capital "T", mentioned in the context of religion, alternatives to medicine and other pseudosciences?  Ya, a lot.  Ever stop and think how THIS word is used to indoctrinate you?  I present a challenge to all who value the real meaning of the word to look for evidence in support of claims under this banner.