“Truth is like a vast tree, which yields more and more fruit the more you nurture it. The deeper the search in the mine of truth the richer the discovery of the gems buried there, in the shape of openings for an even greater variety of service.” -Gandhi
Week Three. Contemplate what the impact of post-truth, alternative facts, fake news, and truthiness is on yourself and the world at large. Note that it has become “normal” for emotions, gut feelings, personal beliefs and personal convenience to take precedence over observable facts and data.
Glenn Fairman wrote, “Truth is a lot like virtue — in that most everyone claims to desire it, but the general consensus deep down is that they would rather have pie.” This week notice in what ways your desire for ease, convenience, and personal preference determine your willingness to settle for “pie” rather than to seek Truth.
Week Four. The Russian dissident and chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov tweeted: “The point of modern propaganda isn’t only to misinform or push an agenda. It is to exhaust your critical thinking, to annihilate truth.”
How might you guard against “critical thinking fatigue”? In what ways can you nourish, sharpen, protect, and guard this faculty of critical thinking for the long haul? Gandhi found strength and fortitude by tapping into Satyagraha, “the force which is born of truth.” Have you ever felt connected to this “force which is born of truth”? How might you root yourself in the power and resources of this force to sustain your potency and integrity in these times?
For further study and reflection:
- Read the definition, etymology, theories and views on Truth in Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truth
- Read Gandhi: An Autobiography – The Story of My Experiments with Truth
- Download (free) Trump and a Post-Truth World by Ken Wilbur for a unique evolutionary view of what is currently taking place in the world and why. https://integrallife.com/trump-post-truth-world/
- Read Post-Truth blog by D Adele. https://deborahadele.com/post-truth/