Truth Decay – Defined and Explained
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Truth is
defined as “a fact or belief that is
accepted as true; in accordance with fact or reality”. Decay is defined as “rot or
decompose through the action of bacteria and fungi”.
Mixing these two; to form TRUTH DECAY; simply points to the state where that which was
thought to be true, whatever it is, is now thought to have been ‘contaminated and laced with bacteria and
fungi’; thereby decomposing to produce a stink! Truth decay is a very
dangerous state of affairs; and if not managed promptly it can cause serious damage
and losses; both human and material. Decisions will be made on the pretext of wrong
information, to the detriment of mankind.
There are four related trends that point out to
truth decay:
1.
Increasing disagreement about facts and analytical interpretations of facts and
data:
People will always argue over anything; but when
the levels of disagreements continue to widen up, that’s a serious breeding
ground for truth decay. There will be a lot of spin-doctoring of information in
order for one party to gain mileage over the other.
2. A
blurring of the line between opinion and fact:
During disagreements, it is very important to distinguish
between a fact and an opinion. While opinions are valid and should be
respected, but they must not be mistaken for a statement of fact. It normally
happens when one person is dominating discussions. His or her opinions are
normally showed through the rest of the people and adopted as statements of
fact. Let’s be aware of that, lest we may make critical decisions based on
people’s opinions not facts.
3. The
increasing relative volume, and resulting influence, of opinion and personal
experience over fact:
This is one very common danger associated with
truth decay. People who have experience usually discard laid down procedures
and begin to use their experience to solve certain problems. For instance, I grew
up knowing that when one person is having a terrible headache, fever and body
sweating, chances were high that person would be suffering from malaria. But that
is not a fact; because headaches, fever and body-sweating are also associated
with stomach infections and vomiting, sugar diabetes and flue. There is always
a danger of truth decay when personal opinion and experience overshadow
statements of fact.
4.
Declining trust in formerly respected sources of factual information:
A number of information sources usually start well
in their launching careers. The problem starts when they begin to take sides;
be it political, tribal or social. Once a certain section of the society loses
truth; it becomes extremely difficult to regain people’s truth. And usually
now, in order to regain the lost market confidence, there is a lot of spin-doctoring
that will be involved to try and win back the masses. Such a scenario is a
serious breeding ground for truth decay.
Whatever the case, truth decay will always be part
of humanity. It just needs all of us to be responsible and careful enough in
order to manage it. Let us all be analytical, basing more on statements of
facts rather than people’s opinion. Learn not to be bullied into submission for
things that you don’t subscribe to.
Tapiwa Zuze
