Mea Cupla but Truth Matters



In an age when data travels faster than common sense it seems futile to fact check.  Especially during a political campaign right?  Just ask Neil Newhouse “We’re not going to let our campaign be dictated by fact-checkers.”     Why should it matter?  Our parents lied to us about the tooth fairy and the importance of the utility of the quadratic equation.  And did you know that body heat does NOT dissipate faster through our head?  Some facts are just so prolific that they now go unquestioned.  How many “facts” did you believe from this list?
Ten Completely False ‘Facts’ Everyone Knows

10.  Mount Everest Is The Tallest Mountain in the World.
9. Body Heat Dissipates Mainly Through the Head.
8. The Great Wall of China Is the Only Man-made Object Visible from Space.
7. Glass Is a Slow-moving Liquid.
6. Mother Birds Will Abandon Babies if You Touch Them.
5. Different Parts of Your Tongue Detect Different Tastes.
4. People Thought the World Was Flat Before Columbus.
3. Deoxygenated Blood Is Blue.
2.  Chameleons Change Color to Blend in with Surroundings.
1. Humans Have Five Senses.

Better question how many of the above FACTS do you STILL believe even though you have now been told they are WRONG?

When we can spin doctor history with an internet meme and a Wikipedia account, the effort in seeking the truth seems to have grown past the who-gives-a-shit ideology of the masses.  Perhaps because the US sucks at math  or the widespread American denialism but as a nation we simply don’t seem to be impressed by facts.  Not when they make us uncomfortable.  Not when our celebrity idol disbelieves them.  Not when our mother told us differently. And not when the friend of the niece of our doctor’s receptionist was said to have said otherwise.

Its not that we can’t handle the truth as Jack Nicholson’s character in a Few Good Men shouts, its that we simply stopped caring about truth in favor of our own feel good story.  Or often the hideous horror stories about abused babies, puppies or dolphins that also get propegated without credibility.

My friends know me as the snopes-bitch because I am apt to provide “gentle nudges” when they post an urban legend.  Make no mistake if you ever see something attributed to George Carlin that sounds “touching” I can assure you it wasn’t him.  The late comedian/philosopher even went to great pains while he was alive to discredit the rumors and false accounts of his word, which may have even spurred on more copycat misquotes to be fired up and sent ablaze.

Did television confuse us as kids?  Did we somehow get trapped by soap opera ethics and begin to believe that real people behave like this?  Do we actually BELIEVE reality TV actors and stand behind their props and propaganda thinking they actually give a shit about something other than ratings?

I admire the Dalai Lama for taking a stand and keeping an open mind when it comes to our ever changing world of make believe.

“If scientific analysis were conclusively to demonstrate certain claims in Buddhism to be false, then we must accept the findings of science and abandon those claims.”

― Dalai Lama XIV, The Universe in a Single Atom: The Convergence of Science and Spirituality

My kids like to remind me of the time when I believed that dragons were real because I had turned on the cable tv in the middle of what I thought was a documentary about scientific evidence of bones and DNA of these mythical creators.  The computer assisted animation was terrific, the tone and the timbre sounded like science and I was two hours INTO the show before one of my children pointed out to me the TITLE of the production:  Dragons: A Fantasy Made Real

And while I wish that was an isolated incidence in my “never mind” faux pas of fasle news, in truth I’ve been taken in by several stories on The Onion and very nearly believed the recent Lion’s Released in the Hamptons satire.   And I consider myself a bright lady.  Or at least a geek.  And when I see how easy it is for me to be complacent about “information” that I come across, I realize that everyone is probably aboard the same titanic of tales from the deep distortion.

And if that’s true, if we have become a nation of misinformed drones then why even try to seek accuracy in our representation (not to mention our representatives!)  The late Carl Sagan wrote a lovely piece on “Does Truth Matter? Science, Pseudoscience, and Civilization” where he skillfully points out the importance of historic lies and consequences from witchhunts to nazi germany and on to UFOs and TM scams.

And while Truth may be the dribble cup of the holy grail, I would suggest that we at least approach the data stream with open eyes.  We should wonder if what we hear, read or even see on the pixar screen of our brain is really a dragon or smoke and mirrors.  Because … “By and large, language is a tool for concealing the truth.” — George Carlin (p 45, Napalm and Silly Putty)

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