Truth, Falsehoods, Mysteries, Possibilities, & Manipulation
As a scholar, a consumer, a citizen of a democracy, and a human being who deals with other humans, one of the most crucial skills you can develop is the ability to tell fact from fiction, or honesty from dishonesty. In short, you need to develop your own built-in “BS detector.” This nose for nonsense will let you know when someone is trying to manipulate you, or lead you away from the truth. People can mislead others purposely or on accident, by directly telling lies or accidentally omitting the truth, so you’ll need to understand a few key terms:
TRUTH
Some statements have already been verified with testimony, recordings, experiments, or other data. These facts are considered the truth (lowercase “t”) because there is recorded evidence from real life that proves they are real…at least until there is evidence to the contrary.
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA
This Photo by Unknown FALSEHOODS Author is licensed Once there is evidence to disprove, or directly show under CC BY- that something is NOT true, it’s considered a NC falsehood. An example would be if your little brother said that he didn’t steal the cookies from the cookie jar, but then your parents showed cell phone video of him doing it. His first statement would be disproven, or shown to be false.
POSSIBILITIES & MYSTERIES
In between truth and falsehoods, there are some statements that have not been proven or disproven yet, and some statements that cannot ever be proven or disproven.
The truth Possibilities Mysteries Falsehoods
Statements that have not yet been thoroughly proven, but that may be true, are possibilities. It’s important not to assume that something is false just because you haven’t experienced it, or just because the evidence hasn’t been gathered yet. Consider germs: not too long ago, human beings didn’t have the technology to see bacteria or viruses, so no one knew they existed. We attributed diseases to everything from unholy curses to imbalances of bodily fluids called “humors.” But, with advances in science and tech, we are able to learn new facts. So while the evidence is still out -- and especially when competing arguments seem shaky -- withhold judgment and consider some unproven statements to be possibilities.
Other statements probably can never be proven or disproven, no matter how much technology exists. Maybe the proof has been destroyed, or the technology isn’t possible, or no one has a motive to share the truth. Consider the shooting of Tupac Shakur or the existence of an afterlife. Will we ever truly know who pulled the trigger, unless the gunman or gunmen confess? Can we ever scientifically prove to even skeptics that living beings have immortal souls? Probably not, so these kinds of unanswerable questions would be considered mysteries. They are usually matters of faith, values, or belief, beyond argument.
MANIPULATION
The word “manipulate” comes from the Latin word manus, or hand, so manipulators are literally controlling you with their hands (at least the ones they use to write). Manipulation means managing or moving someone in a wicked, devious, cunning, or penetrating way, usually for one’s own ends. The word has a generally negative meaning, because people mostly manipulate others to hide the truth, not to reveal it. (When someone is managing or moving people to see the truth, what do we call it? “Teaching?” “Enlightening?”)
True manipulation tries to make you confuse falsehoods, mysteries, and possibilities with the verified truth, even though the author knows better. Or, it’s done to make you give up trying to This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed find the truth altogether, so you’ll follow what under CC BY the manipulator says. Manipulation usually happens on purpose, even though some people are such practiced puppeteers that they aren’t conscious of what they are doing. Telling a falsehood on accident doesn’t count as manipulation, but it can still mislead people.