Truth

The NY Times suggested that Biden appoint a reality czar to combat disinformation. This could be called a truth czar. Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter volunteered a few weeks ago to handle the job. To paraphrase Shakespeare, truth is in the eye of the beholder. The more convinced someone is that they have the secret to truth the more suspect they should be. There are very few important ideas that do not have two sides to the issue. Normally it is a group of experts who have studied the issue for years who disagree. Religions have truths and this truth is verified by faith. That works for many when it comes to religion but not in the secular world. The normal reaction to a claim that someone disagrees with is to attack the truth teller. Arguments about the issue get sidelined while people cast dispersion's on the purveyors of the issue. To further complicate the issue all too often people immediately take political sides. The current argument used to by pass the first amendment is to say that certain speech is disinformation and therefore dangerous. Disinformation is a euphemism for lying. The way to confront disinformation is with more information. The best was to confront bad ideas is with better ideas. Shutting down information has cause no end of problems throughout history.