Moving Beyond the War on Truth

I've started watching Ken Burns's documentary of Benjamin Franklin on PBS, and was inspired by one of Franklin's key tenets: Endeavor to speak the truth in every instance.

On the flip side, consider that 20 years ago, a University of Massachusetts study showed that "60 percent of people lied at least once during a 10-minute conversation and told an average of two to three lies." And that was before the constancy of social media where lies proliferate. Lies seem more pernicious and the consequences more severe. Take this recent opinion article on CNN: "Russia was built on an empire of lies. That's the biggest hurdle to peace talks."

How can we have peace in our world, our communities, our homes without respecting and working toward truth?

Here's a starting litmus test for each of us: What are we putting out into the nonfiction world — whether in a private conversation, a public speech, a social media post, an independent blog, an op-ed, a TV commentary, a reported piece, a video, an audio story, a data visualization, an illustration, or some other communication?

Is it endeavoring to speak truth, to understand truth?

To move toward this goal, research, ask questions, fact check with multiple sources, and don't repeat or share something willy-nilly, in-person or online.

We all have a role to play in order to cut down lies to each other and in the public sphere.