This year, 2024, is a monumental year. Globally, things are happening or will happen that will have a significant impact on all our lives, even when they don’t happen in the countries where we live. Among the significant events are several elections that will shape the way certain countries function internally or in their relations with others for several years to come, and whose impact will be felt far beyond the terms of the winners of those elections.
One big factor that will play a huge role in upcoming events, in my humble opinion, is the difference between truth and fact, a little noted philosophical debate that is yet to be held and something that the average person probably gives little thought to.
The difference between what is truth and what is fact might seem like an academic point of no consequence, but the failure of people to discern that difference is at the core of the effectiveness of a lot of disinformation and misinformation that pollutes our current political discourse. So, to help our readers cut through the fog and see clearly, permit me to illustrate that difference.
Truth is something that is in accordance with reality, but it’s subjective and can be influenced by personal beliefs, experiences, and emotions. Fact, on the other hand, is something that can be objectively verifiable. For example, “I’m afraid of heights because I once fell from a tree,” is a truth, but it’s a truth that holds only for me—unless there’s someone else out there who is afraid of high places because at the age of nine they fell from a tree. If I say that the roof of a building is forty feet from the ground at its highest point, that is a fact that can be verified by measurement.
The foregoing is not meant to imply that fact is superior to truth. Truth is important. A verified truth is important. Facts, on the other hand, while they can be verified, can also be used to support conclusions that are not, in fact, true. Take, for example, the fact that the inflation rate is, let’s say, ten percent, therefore you should not vote for the incumbent president. The inflation rate is something that can be measured and verified, therefore, it’s a fact.
The conclusion that because of that you should or should not vote for a certain candidate is your ‘truth,’ which might or might not be true for someone else, or might not be true at all if you’re an unscrupulous politician trying to defeat an opponent by arousing the ire of voters over the inflation rate without looking at all of the factors that go into causing inflation. When facts are used in this way, it’s important that you carefully consider the context before blindly accepting someone else’s truth. And, just for the record, there’s no such thing as ‘alternative’ facts. Things are either factual, i.e., measurable and verifiable, or they are not.
Most importantly, remember that truth and fact are not the same. Truth is a subjective interpretation of reality, while fact is an objective reality. If I tell you it’s hot today, that is a subjective truth because it’s my interpretation of the temperature. You might experience the same weather condition and feel that it’s only warm, or even a little cool. On the other hand, if I say the temperature today is fifteen degrees Celsius, that’s a fact that can be verified with a thermometer. If someone says to you, “I don’t believe in climate change,” that’s the truth for them, but it does not alter the fact that objective measurements tend to prove that climate change is happening.
In order to effectively communicate to people, or to understand what people are communicating to you, understanding the difference between truth and fact is all important. It’s important, too, to realize that the two can coexist, and that both are important. | NWI
