“It’s not surprising that our choice [Trump] reflects a year dominated by highly-charged political and social discourse...Fueled by the rise of social media as a news source and a growing distrust of facts offered up by the establishment, post-truth as a concept has been finding its linguistic footing for some time.”
A way of thinking which adheres to transient emotion and positive or negative (however you feel you should define positive or negative) biases is now a perfectly acceptable paradigm for thinking critically and playing your part in America's democracy. This model was detrimental and caused confusion in my heart about how and who my voter demographic went to the polls over (I am a young, very white, evangelical). Many of "us" were secure in professing we could not trust Ms. Clinton (morality issue) or back abortion, so we voted Trump. Yet Trump, according to Reverend Albert Mohler of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, falls, by his actions, so deeply beneath a baseline of morality. Yet! 81-82% of Rev. Mohler and mine evangelical brothers and sisters gave their vote to Trump. Thus does not post-truth play itself out in a demographic (white religious evangelicals) who have a most sacred and enduring text to obey and respond out of? But, maybe it was not circumstances or emotion or marred personal beliefs. Or snapchat. The confusion I feel about one demographic's vote is my opinion.
Therefore, as Obama prepares to exit and Trump decides on 5th Ave or 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, I am increasingly aware of my own posture of decision-making. It is influenced by my own pride, fear, greed, anxiety, and guilt, and lust, to name the short end of the list. I am imploring myself to obey the bible, to obey a text which claims upright and everlasting (Isaiah 40:8). It's words are sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword. It's stories, stanzas, parables and promises cut between my soul and spirit like joint and marrow. It, ultimately, exposes yours and my mine's innermost thoughts and desires (Hebrews 4:12). Thus, moving forward, would I hope in the one true God who wrote this text through and to his people, and not the day to day appeal of my own "rational" thinking.
We live in interesting times. I think there is a lot of things in play right now that is resulting in our current "post-truth" debacle. 1. The media apparatus that we so rely on is a for profit industry. While there is nothing wrong with that as how else could they make money, but, by its very nature, the media's ultimate goal is not to express the truth, but a narrative that garners viewership. If the truth just so happens to tag along for the ride, then it is, as we in economics say, an positive externality. It appears people today are distrustful of the media generally because they see it as biased to one particular ideology (most often that is liberalism). Whether or not it is biased to a significant degree is besides the point; rather, it is the preconceived notion of bias that retains that skepticism. As a result, people tend to listen to those that they know or feel they can trust. It is here where Fox's motto of "fair and balanced" comes into play. They led the charge against traditional media by distancing itself from the old form of media and installing the notion of its own respectability within the minds of its most dedicated of viewers. 2. As I mentioned previously, people trust those that they know or who hold beliefs similar to their own. This little aspect is what is making social media so dangerous to the desimination of news and the truth. Facebook, twitter, tumblr, etc. all create an apparatus where people can surround themselves with sycophants and sources that already agree with what they have to say. If you sign up for Twitter, you begin with setting up your screen name and some of your "personal" details. Then it will ask you to seek out potential people to follow; or, if you have a busy day and don't feel like scouring through millions of potential people, you can just say some of your interests and Twitter will do the rest. It is here where the great trap of the internet strikes and your experience is dominated by those you like or agree with. And so, if you spend your time hearing only one thing from everyone you follow and believe, it is hard not to believe the bulk of voices. This is not to disparage social media or to flam the flames of conspiracy. These companies do this because if they made it so people could only hear/follow those they did not like or did not believe in, then they would not use the app. If that was the case, the companies would fade into obscurity and bankruptcy. Now that being said, companies like Facebook and twitter and the slue of other must realize that their processes are fostering something potentially dangerous. Thus, these companies have a responsibility to their customers to serve them in their customers' own best interests, even if those interests come into conflict with what the customers' think is their best interests.
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