Pursuing Truth

I am really struggling with all the lies. Public figures, including especially politicians, say whatever suits their cause. They throw around invented statistics that have no basis in reality, tell stories of events that have never happened and make promises that they have no intention of implementing.

When I was a child, we were warned that a lie told often enough will be believed. Now, that observation has given birth to an art-form. Truth has lost any moral impetus in the public arena. There is no shame in being caught out in a lie. There might be a shrug of the shoulders or an expansion of the lie to make the original story seem innocuous. There is almost never an apology.

AI is notorious for inventing “facts” but, in reality, it is repeating or amplifying lies that humans have told. The most prominent or numerous statements become the “truth.” Images can be altered, videos doctored and documents forged.

The 20^th Century philosopher, Karl Popper, tried to warn us that the scientific method of induction was flawed. He explained that we can see the same things thousands of times but cannot assume that our observations have uncovered a fact.

What we think we have witnessed might be an illusion, intentionally created to mislead or simply the result of the confusion between reality and fiction. Or we might be unlucky enough to keep observing the exception to the rule – the rare occurrence.

Today, it is more complicated than in Popper’s time because there are those quite intentionally distorting our experiences and leading us astray. We are living in an era when all our previous preconceptions must be discarded.

Even ordinary observations can be misleading. I used to think that those who needed glasses were those with a defect with their eye-sight. Today, the people with the glasses are the ones born with the better eye-sight. I am such a person. So many of my friends and family now have had laser treatment of one kind or another and no longer need to wear their glasses and I, who was born with good vision, need reading-glasses and cannot justify any sort of treatment on my eyes. So, I look like the one with weaker eyes when I am actually blessed with excellent vision.

I realize that this is symbolic of so much of what is going on in these confusing and difficult times. We can conclude very little from what we see or hear.

It is almost impossible to know what is true and what is contrived. We don’t know who to trust or how to interpret what seem to be the facts before us.

There is a wonderful midrash that says that when the Creator wanted to create human beings, the angels were split 50-50 on whether or not it was a good idea. “Truth” and “Justice” warned that we would not uphold their values but others felt it was worth the effort! In order to break the deadlock, the Creator took “Truth” and threw him to the ground, where he shattered into pieces. We were created, but Judaism teaches that humans are not capable of knowing absolute truth: absolute truth remains in the realm of the Divine.

However, seeking truth is a value. Our prophets rail against liars and cheats. No human will ever know it all, but we have been given the tools to distinguish between truth and falsehood and we have a duty to pursue the former and reject the latter.

Today, the battle for truth is more work and it is fighting against the prevailing culture, whereby politicians and influencers will say whatever promotes their cause or increases their power, without any regard for truth.

So, please don’t believe the lies. Here are some truths:

Haredim are NOT enlisting in large numbers and the army DOES want them and can absorb hundreds more; the current head of the High Court WAS appointed according to the law and the protocols; the government IS supposed to obey the law and it IS the duty of the High Court to determine if a new or proposed law brought to it to adjudicate is compliant with the existing law; many countries do NOT elect their judges and value the independence of the judiciary; democracy DOES include freedom of the press; the government IS supposed to govern for all, including those who did not vote for it.

Hundreds of innocents have been killed in Gaza, the destruction is enormous and there are still people going hungry.  Thousands of miliumnikim are suffering post-trauma, often because of what they have seen.

This is the truth. Not everyone likes it, but please don’t lie about it.