fiction is useful as metaphor. if it is taken literally it is no longer seen as metaphorical and loses that usefulness. in addition, dismissing the current political situation because religion has been fooling people longer is kind of weird. it's a little bit like saying you don't have to pay attention to the cancer you just learned you have because after all you've been drinking your liver to mush so why bother?

g

I think so I saw a documentary some time ago it was how listless ordinary Russian people are because they cannot trust anything anyone says . I swear that is the way we are going here in hte U.k creating magic shows of 'what might be happening' etc. in order to mask reality. I am determined not to get undermined by t and I am not know n for being a conspiracy theorist I just know that my government will lie cheat and steal to get us to believe what they need us to believe.

I agree with others; the lies and propaganda isn't new...but we live in an age where people are overwhelmed with information. They are also completely unprepared, via the government sanctioned (lack of) education camps, to exercise critical thinking and logic. On top of that, you (and now your spouse too) come home exhausted, because you work more hours than any other person in other industrialized nations. Also, unlike 50-70 yrs ago, it now takes you both working to make ends meet, so you come home and have to deal with all the house stuff that before one spouse was able to handle. So with all the above, you're now inundated with so much data from so many sources, after putting in a full day at one job and more at your part time "home" job, it's no wonder people have problems trying to process it all. Thus the perfect fertile mental pasture to take short cuts in reasoning.

It's always been around, but I would argue it's never been as easy to dupe people. On the other hand , it's also never been as easy for a person to do the research themselves and figure this out. But again, based on what a family has to do to make it today....most adults just don't feel they have the time or energy to figure out the BS from the facts, much less properly interpret those facts and make logical, coherent conclusions.

Truth to me still equals facts, evidence and non-biased evaluation of information coming from a reliable source. In the media we heard something very stupid from a person that is not exactly up with Plato's league. It is just a bunch of lying liars that don't even think they are lying or know the truth that are the problem. I think Mr. "The truth is not the truth", should try it out on a judge to see how well that works for them outside the media.

I see this more of an issue of redefining truth and evidence and facts. If the truth is not the opposite of lie or falsehood then what word can we use? It shouldn't be Trump's truth or her truth but only the truth, something that is factual.

Honestly this is not a new issue. Trump is exposing an problem, not because he is the first but because he is so toddler-ish with his lies. Propaganda has been disseminated for recorded history.

The real problem I see is the path of attacking the media, using presidential power against political opponents and critics, pardons for perceived allies and running military through the streets. These tactics are also not new, and they lead down a dark path. Sadly the only people who understand the problem are not the voters on the other end of the echo chamber.

Just have to make sure we vote, contribute to our best options in campaigns and hope for the best.

I agree that it's always been going on. Brainwashing and propaganda have been around forever. Some humans have a knack for these things. This is one reason I believe that a lot of the politicians that aspire for office are psychopaths. They do exactly what psychos do to their victims. They play on their emotions and manipulate them. People are easily led. I think the 2 party system perpetuates this type of tactic of "post truth" politics. Both sides try to make the other candidate look ridiculous like it's a high school roast in the schoolyard. There are more factors that go into who people choose as a candidate, but truth seems to be down on the list. The people who have always been decent speakers or made you feel something is who has been at the top. It's why they have those nice slogans, "Hope", "Stronger Together", "Make America Great Again". Alone, these slogans seem great, but it's a MARKETING CAMPAIGN!!! When you have the truth, you shouldn't need a fluff marketing campaign to evoke "the feels". It's how corporations get you to buy things you DON'T NEED! Someone just spitting facts is "boring" to people. It's a popularity contest. I think it's always been like this, but it seems to have been hyper-inflated these days with the advent of so many media outlets. And it's not just synonymous with one political side either.

"Truth" is the way something is, no matter how you feel about it. Obama is a born American citizen. Trump actually won the election. Russian intelligence did interfere in the election by spreading propaganda. All those things are true. It doesn't matter if the person hearing it doesn't want to hear it.

Oh yeah; the Earth is round.

It's the age of denial is what it is.

post-truthism is just one of the latest verberations of the insanity of post-modernism. . . . Relativism without reference. Not a reality I am aware of.
Might be just me. Or, it more likely is, most people would find such thinking perty silly.

Post Truth. Kind of hard to wrap this sorry head around that term. Was there a Truth Era? Sort of a "life is shitty, get used to it" type of deal that no one really wanted to get behind before the flood of lies and innovation. How about Pre Truth? Maybe that's the era we're living in now.
Either way, I will stand here skeptical until further illumination presents itself. That or a really convincing lie.

"religious creeds make large-scale human cooperation possible"

....so did Hitler, and some religions still hold to similar principles. Most religions are judgemental, exclusionary, and promote false hope, none of these are a pathway to good. Religious good is only prominent because of overwhelming proportions.

In my experience with religion (and even "secular" community service organizations) only a small portion of members practice charity and compassion though most agree in principle.

Read Erich Fromm's ESCAPE FROM FREEDOM. His book explains well why many people are emotionally drawn to total system religious and political ideologies. Fortunately for the human species, there have been enough of us independent, analytical, and critical thinkers to escape taht curse. We are the people who have enabled what advance we have. It is a constant battle, and it is never won.

Interesting...what I see at the moment is not much cooperation and lots of fake stories going around. People are killed or badly hurt by these actions! I am a realist...I appreciate the truth, even as I am wounded by it and sometimes resisting! I never read much fiction, because I want to know the unvarnished sometimes boring truth! On the other hand I can envision good that can happen in the future and the possibility of evil, as well. I can be ‘taken in,’ by fake information, and that reinforces me, to pay more careful attention! But, I base my assumptions on what I have been exposed to, over time...I have difficulty believing that ‘fake news’ or information works for good even as I know that people will spread what they know to be...or is unaware that it is ‘untrue!’

The fact that people have always lied, dissembled, prevaricated, quibbled, and engaged in all manner of mendacity does not in least reduce my level of contempt and disgust for pants-on-fire Trump and his fraudster minions. A pox on all their houses!

More an era of subjective truths

That is a very scary truth. Now I’m REAL scared!

I will not try to destroy someones support system unless it means to harm me. I told my philosophy teacher that if I was threatened with beheading if I did not convert, I said; "damn right, I am going to convert. Better to survive to fight another day". I am not going to let a religion take my life. I asked the class their opinion. Religion is responsible for our evolution. It has to be respected for it's place. Post-Hoc. I have never paid attention to it's meaning. Maybe it is a mistake. I believe the problem is with the filters of the receivers, not with the transmitters. I know there is an off button. People need to use it more.