The Death of Truth: Notes on Falsehood in the Age of Trump
“Now we’re in an age where you can simply reinforce your own viewpoints. And it’s hard to have a discussion of the facts when you’re dealing with two separate sets of facts—two sets of talking points that came down from on high. With the Internet, all of us were going to be content producers, but it’s become an echo chamber.”
George Packer • Last Best Hope: America in Crisis and Renewal
The problem for Democrats is that any observation of this second truth—a truth that seems likely to darken and expand in the aftermath of yesterday’s attack—will now be condemned as rancorous and immoral—or worse, as an incitement to further political violence. Every necessary criticism of Trump’s authoritarianism, fondness for dictators, fraudulen... See more
Sam Harris • Stepping Back From the Precipice
Truth was fake; fake was true. And that’s when the problem suddenly snapped into focus. Throughout recent centuries anyone growing up in a western democracy had believed that it was necessary to have facts. Without facts, societies could be extremely dark places. Facts were essential to informed debates, to progress, to coherence, to justice.
Alan Rusbridger • Breaking News: The Remaking of Journalism and Why It Matters Now
All the facts in the world can’t keep democratically elected hate machines from taking office as long as they can inject a false sense of certainty into an inherently uncertain world. Confident conclusions by loud-mouthed demagogues who pride themselves on rejecting critical thinking begin to dominate the public discourse. What they lack in knowled
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