Truth and Lies
Having written a book set in the distance future called Where Liberty Lies, I’m going to start this blog in 1486. That was the year Heinrich Kramer, a German Dominican, wrote a book called Malleus Maleficarum (The Hammer of Witches). Its publication coincided with the blossoming of the printing press across Europe, enabling the book and its message to spread quickly and widely (only the Bible outsold it). As a consequence, the witch craze consumed Europe, leading to the deaths of tens of thousands of people, largely women, whose only crime was to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Today, we see the Malleus Maleficarum as a dangerous fabrication but in the 15th and 16th centuries witches were seen to be real and the book an exposure of the truth. But we can’t just dismiss it as the foolishness of a bygone age because every era has the capacity to follow the lie to fit their own version of the truth.
In the twenty-first century, we find ourselves at the forefront of another communication revolution with the internet. We can now share knowledge and learning like never before and give everyone a voice through this unregulated medium. Unfortunately, that also means those spreading lies have a platform and a bigger audience. New ‘witches’ have been found and the suffering goes on. The conspiracists believes in ‘their truth’, selecting and shaping information to fit their own singular narrative, the self-righteous will rally to criticise and hound a holder of an opposing view regardless of neither side occupying territory that can be deemed factual, and an immoral politician will exploit the muddy water to attract people to their own cause.
But the communication channels, be it printed books or the internet, don’t create the lies, that honour is humans’. We are a tribal species, with strong emotions. You may have spent your youth arguing with a sibling but heaven help the person who criticises them. Loyalty will often override logic, because there is an inner, primordial setting that tells us it’s safer to stay with our troop, and that may make us forego a truth to retain the bond.
Of course, determining what is ‘truth’ is littered with difficulty. I recall a documentary I once watched by David Eagleman, a neuroscientist, where he put forward the theory that reality is a mere concept created by our brains. You see, the brain interprets the information received, cutting corners to make efficiencies, and presents something at the end which may or may not be reality. As with most issues relating to the brain, it is when things go wrong that scientist have the opportunity to study and understand it more. So, to give you an example of the fragility of reality, the condition of synesthesia is a neuro-malfunction whereby people process senses in a mixed-up way, smelling cooked sausages when they see the colour yellow, or hearing sounds with a particular taste. But who is to say anyone’s experience of a grilled sausage is the same as mine? With this confusing foundation to our very being, is it any wonder that the world and societies we live in are filled with illusions and lies?
When we talk about history it should be straight-forward. X happened that led to Y. But the ‘truth’ can be a multi-sided shape, coloured by perspective and all the other baggage a culture carries with it. There is that famous adage of the victor writes history. The nuances of behaviour and how we judge it change with time and other influences. Consider these two statements: 1) A flourishing society communicating with their gods through human sacrifice to ensure continued favour and success. 2) A saviour from across the ocean conquering the barbaric savage, stopping the practice of human sacrifice and bringing civilisation and the true God. The statements are two sides of the same coin, with each true to someone, be that the Aztec with complete faith in their gods or the 16th century Spaniard with his god. And now, with a modern eye, we might condemn the imperial greed of the latter and commend the feats of Aztec civilisation, able to present human sacrifice as a Horrible Histories episode because it no longer exists. In the future, we may say it was a case of two imperial powers clashing.
Truth, that unemotional and non-judgemental tale at the core of everything, is easily tainted under a mountain of lies, interpretations and prejudices. It is, therefore, important we always distinguish between judgement and fact as two separate elements.
I’ve just booked some flights advertised at an incredible sounding price. As planned by the ‘budget’ airline, my emotional judgement is excited by this ‘bargain’ and I book with them. By the end of the process, with luggage, seating preferences and speedy boarding add-ons, the fact of the matter is it was no bargain. I end up paying a healthy sum. Next time, perhaps with limited choice and a little scepticism, I will still be swayed by the advertised price and only curse at the end of the process. Such is the power of misinformation which pervades our modern lives.
Where Liberty Lies is a thrilling adventure in a time after the collapse of civilisation, where people are trying to rebuild. Lies and deceit may well have brought the world to its knees, but they’re too ingrained in human nature to allow a future without their continuing insidious presence.
Where Liberty Lies was published on 21 April 2023.
Nathaniel M Wrey