DEBORAH JONES: FREE RANGE
December, 2016
How do we “know” what we “know?”
Nope, this isn’t a trick question on an epistemology course. It’s the key to our lives, from the mundane (is that food safe to eat?) to social (can I trust that person?) to the most technical of calculations (how do I design a sound airplane?). Our world is built on evidence-based decision-making.
In democracies, we depend on having enough citizens who know about enough stuff to make enough smart decisions — based on the best evidence available — to keep us alive. We depend on having enough citizens willing to confront problems and fix them. And if there’s anybody left who doubts that our democracies are in crisis, the events of 2016 dispelled our illusions.
Will democracy last? Some fear for this grand experiment; see this study showing a drop in support for the very concept. Its detractors might consider which system they’d prefer: Rule by royals? Tyranny by dictators? Authoritarianism posing as Communism? Personally, I agree with Winston Churchill, who considered democracy the least bad of the options. But our willingness to accept lies as facts — like the lies told during this year’s UK vote on Brexit and the American presidential election — could be democracy’s death knell.
Here’s why I think fake news is so widespread today: real news can be depressing. We are a society that avoids sadness, suppresses reflection with distraction, and stocks an arsenal of drugs and therapy for depression. And, increasingly, we refuse to embrace facts delivered as news.
The root cause of “Fake News” is deeper than the culprits most often blamed: the venality of the deceivers, the glee of those who profit, manipulations by the Russians, distrust in traditional media, the gullibility of sheeple.
I contend that “Fake News” flourishes because we have a pandemic of Happiness Disorder.
Happiness is, obviously, a good thing. But happiness is neither real, nor achievable, if the only way we can feel happy is by turning a blind eye — especially when there’s a cliff in our road. Staring crises in the face is hardly happy-making — but ignoring a crisis is deadly. Democracy requires that enough of us keep watch to avoid driving off cliffs. Without enough people with clear sight — without some willingness to seek “knowledge” — where will we find ourselves?
© Deborah Jones 2016