When you receive conflicting advice how do you select your truth?
Is there always just the one truth?
Scientists have a reputation for being experts and are asked to produce their version of the truth in the media
However, science is not exact, it’s a journey towards a truth that is hidden by unknown data yet to be identified – then matched to the latest hypothesis on the topic. It can be an ever-expanding horizon to be explored by many scientists
As a result scientists have become less trusted because the public’s perception is that they hold the truth – but as they don’t, this has reduced their credibility. Just reflect on the Covid-19 journey
Politicians have always been less trusted than most parts of society but we still hope for a changed performance from them and long for what we call “statesman-like” behaviour!
And now we have fake news!
Some of it is truly fake because we believe we can test it against well known and verified facts but can we? If we are learning about a new phenomenon the facts are maybe disputed
Social media is a great source of misinformation – technology can change the facts as we knew them. Think of a photo being altered to tell a totally different story from the original taken
What will this mean for generations to come? How will they find truth, coalesce around it and refute those that peddle misinformation?
It will be a society that struggles with great uncertainty
Do you seek one truth that gives meaning and structure to a subject?
Do you struggle to find that truth?