Veracity

by Douglas E. Richards

panic sells far better than sobriety.

“Causes don’t attract followers by publicizing how much better things are getting. A news story about the gradual increase in our per-capita wealth over a fifty-year period will never make the front page. Good news doesn’t sell, so the media go to great lengths to find kernels of despair, of alarm, in the most optimistic of results.”

“More pessimistic and more polarized than ever before,”

Led by our media and our politicians, who couldn’t be more divisive, more vitriolic. Who couldn’t create a more toxic climate. Friends and families have been torn apart over politics, over apocalyptic fears that are constantly fanned on both sides.”

“Politics has always been a blood sport,”

Politicians delight in using the sky-is-falling theme every day, which is amplified by the media. If you want to get your base out to vote, rage and fear are great motivators. When Reagan was elected, certain Democratic pundits took to the airwaves declaring that this was basically the end of the world, or at least the end of America. He was unfit for office, stupid, and a war monger who would surely cause a nuclear holocaust.

“Every single time we elect a president, the out party does everything possible to convince its followers that this means the end of the world. Or at least the end of America. Granted, this is more intense for some presidents than for others. But it happens to even the most polished and outwardly benign of them.”

If a resident of the White House is caught torturing babies, his own side gives him a pass. But, conversely, if a resident of the White House walks on water, the out-party scorns him for not knowing how to swim.”

“But no matter how much the politicians sow divisiveness,” continued Elias, “and the media report breathlessly on the crises of the day, on the imminent destruction of America, the country continues to thrive. Through Democratic and Republican administrations alike.”

“But the fiftieth time a president does something the opposition is convinced will destroy democracy as we know it,” said Paige, “no one recalls that they’ve cried wolf forty-nine other times.”

“Unfortunately, no. The rhetoric whips people into a frenzy every time. And if people are reminded of this, or reminded that we have a centuries-old political tradition of crying wolf, they don’t care. They insist that this time

it’s different. That the curren...

whoever he or she is, finally will sp...

“By just about every measure, America is better, and the world is better, than it was fifty years ago, thirty years ago, or even ten years ago.

“I know that statement doesn’t jibe with the steady stream of bad news and cynicism that we’re fed through television and Twitter. But I was born at a time when women and people of color were systematically, routinely excluded from enormous portions of American life. Today, women and minorities have risen up the ranks in business, and politics, and everywhere else. The shift is . . . astonishing, remarkable, and it’s happened, when you measure it against the scope of human history, in an instant.

“If you had to choose any moment in history in which to be born, and you didn’t know in advance whether you were going to be male or female, what country you were going to be from, what your status was . . . you’d choose right now. Because the world has never been healthier or wealthier. Or bette...

in the case of purposely divisive news, ignorance really was bliss.

“People have an innate tendency to almost instantly form discrete groups.

And almost instantly become biased against anyone in a different group.”

“Why would we be designed this way? Evolution again?”

“Given limited food, and limited physical gifts, our species had to work in close-knit groups, and become territorial, to stay alive. Tribalism is one result of this. We largely define ourselves by asserting our loyalty to the groups that we’re in. A psychologist in the seventies named Henri Tajfel showed that humans can enter into us-versus-them thinking in seconds, over just about anything. He showed that as conflict grows between groups, it becomes more difficult to think about those you’re competing against as individuals, with positive qualities, making it easier to discount their feelings, arguments, needs, and so on.”

“But then he continued these experiments, sorting people into groups based on ever more trivial differences. What shocked him in the end was that it didn’t really matter why the groups had formed, how trivial the rationale. He could separate people into groups based on their preferences for the paintings of abstract artist A, or abstract artist B, for example. And if they were in the A group, they treated other As better, and those in the B group worse.

“Other social scientists built upon Tajfel’s work,” continued Elias, “and basically found there is no distinction around which opposing groups won’t form, no matter how meaningless. And once they do, individuals in these

groups immediately begin exhibiting favoritism and bias.”

“The worst part about it,” said Elias, “is that this tendency causes us to impugn the motives of the other side. We know we’re acting in good faith, but assume the other side is acting in bad faith. We know that our motivations are noble and pure, but suspect those of the other side are dubious, corrupt, or self-interested. Makes it impossible to have a reasoned discussion.”

human nature itself seems to be our worst enemy.”

Confirmation bias. This is our tendency to seek out information that supports and reinforces our beliefs, and ignore or discount any information that is contrary to them. So we stick to our guns, even against overwhelming evidence that

we’re wrong.”

“We’re tribal, stubborn, and stupid.”

“Not stupid,” said Elias. “Just wired in these unfortunate ways. But there you have it. We always look on the dark side, are suckers for the crisis of the day, and quickly separate into groups. But it’s gotten even worse lately.”

But the nonstop barrage of partisan alarmism and fear mongering is taking a huge toll. And if this isn’t bad enough, we now have so much news that we effectively have none. Not news we can trust to be accurate. Because the media are comprised of human beings, with the same tribalism in their genes that we all have. They take sides and choose what to report.

‘the man with two watches never knows what

time it is.’

“So the old saying now becomes,

‘the man with a thousand media outlets, each providing its own, differing spin on the news, never knows what’s true.’”

And it provides distance and anonymity, so people can be as vicious as they want, and never have to look their opponent in the

eye. They never see them as loving parents or thoughtful neighbors, just as unseen members of a nebulous other.”

My side isn’t filled only with the virtuous, and theirs only with the corrupt and immoral.”

“The problem is that it’s getting harder than ever to even listen to each other,” continued Elias. “Because as difficult as it is to overcome tribalism and confirmation bias, as hard as it is to meet the other group halfway—or any of the way—politicians and members of the media have made an art form out of lying.

“Not all of them,” he added, “and not all of the time. But enough to make a bad situation much worse. Enough to make it impossible for us to agree

the simplest facts. Divisive and apocalyptic rhetoric are the lifeblood of both groups. And they’re using this rhetoric to manipulate, exaggerate, and distort—or just outright lie—to whip the public into a frenzy. All in pursuit of ratings or political power. ...

“We’re living in the best of times. But if we allow our perception of humanity to be shaped by the news, it’s easy to believe that we’re living in the

worst of times.”

“It’s human nature to lie,”

“We lie so much,” he continued, “that we’re often barely aware that we’re doing it. Meet someone for the first time and chat for ten minutes. If someone secretly recorded the meeting, and you had a chance to study the video—and were scrupulously honest with yourself—you’d be stunned by how many lies you told in this short period.”

“Most of us would rather cling to our illusions rather than face harsh truths.

“I’ll devote myself to building an army of writers, speakers, politicians, and news people to help us realize that we live in the best of times—and getting better—while reminding us that there is still much we have left to do. An army of town criers who will help people understand why we’re obsessed

why they often feed our worst natures. Who can convince people to take a step back from the brink of despair and take a breath. Live our lives. Love the people who are important to us. Fight the good fight, but realize that the species continues to move in the right direction. Even if there are minor blips and setbacks along the way. Even if your guy or gal isn’t currently in the White House. Convince people that the sky always seems to be falling, but it never really falls, and that your favorite candidate will be in charge soon enough.”

Veracity,

“For example, one good sign of a possible deception is a story too well told. Too clean. Too chronological.”