Post-Truth- Truth vs Emotion: The New reality

 

Hello everyone, 

This blog is based on Sunday reading activity on Post-truth. For basic understanding of task you can visit this page. 

Background Reading

“Post-Truth” is a situation in which people accept an argument based on their emotions and beliefs, rather than on facts. 

In 2016, Western media had projected that Hillary Clinton will win US Presidential election and UK will not leave from EU. But the opposite happened in both cases.

Defination of Post-truth: 

Post-truth – an adjective defined as ‘relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief’.

In the world, people are dealing with a tricky situation involving "political correctness," "identity politics," and how we see minority groups compared to the majority. This is made more complicated because many people don't have a good education, there are more people without jobs, and there's a lot of fake news spreading around. 

Additionally, because of these issues, public opinion often depends on emotions and personal feelings rather than facts that can be proven true. This is a problem because it's causing a time where truth doesn't matter as much, and people are becoming less tolerant of each other. To make things better, we need to find ways to fix these problems and keep our societies strong. 

Now let us take some examples to understand it better. 

Examples of Post-truth: 

# Reality :

Farmers sell their land to businessmen at premium rates, receive payments in cash to avoid paying stamp duty.Many industrialists and film stars register as farmers to avoid income tax.If such 'rich' farmers are taxed, it'll improve the fiscal capacity of the state.

#Post-truth:

Farmers are committing suicide therefore anyone speaking about tax on agriculture income is insensitive and inhuman.

Resource of this news.

#Reality: 

Taj Mahal was built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahān to immortalize his wife Mumtāz Maḥal.

#Post-truth: 

Taj Mahal was actually a temple of Shiva, known as Tejo Mahalaya.

Resource of this news. 

#Reality: 

English physiologist Robert G Edwards invented IVF.J. L. Baird invented Television.

#Post-truth :

All these things were invented by Indian rishis, as per the supplementary reading book in Gujarat education board.

Article of news is here.

#Reality:

Gurmeet Ram Ram rahim is a rapist.His conviction resulted into rioting and destruction of public property by his goons.

#Post-truth : 

Chinese Media's post-truth: India uses the border disputes to divert public attention away from the domestic conflicts arising from societal problem like this Dera sect leader's conviction!

Reference of this news.

Baba's own newspaper: Baba was wrongly framed by the drug mafia of Pakistan and to resolve the Doklam crisis.

Reference of this news.

#Reality:

Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited data shows that more electricity was provided during Diwali than Ramzan or Eid.

#Post-truth:  

Accusation that Samajwadi party supplied more electricity during Muslim festivals.

Reference of this news.

Very recent controversy of Wrestler. 

Reference

Why Post-truth is growing? 

• Backlash against progressive cultural changes (intercaste/interfaith marriage, LGBT rights).
• Less educated rural population.
• Populist appeals to return to traditional values (Hindu Rashtra, Islamic State, anti-LGBT).
• Economic inequality and resentment towards migrants and marginalized communities.
• Personality-driven politics (Trump vs. Clinton, Modi vs. Sonia & Rahul).
• Tension between elected and bureaucratic leadership in policy implementation.
• Misinformation due to a lack of understanding among journalists and elites.
• Rapid spread of fear, rumors, and emotions on social media.
• Academic incentives for biased historical narratives. Such as Always writing about vedas and history. 

Why Post-truth is bad ?

•  Fake news leads to panic, disgust, and fear, causing violence and riots.
• Harm to social fabric (lynching, cow vigilantism).
• Encourages political opportunism.
• Damages India's global reputation in science and technology.
• Manipulated history doesn't help students' character development.
•  Media highlights controversial figures with large followings, making it hard to counter their claims.
• Diverts attention from real issues.
•  Growing intolerance towards artistic freedom. (book and movie vandalism, bans)

In sum up,  In a post-truth world, where feelings matter more than facts, we can improve things by teaching people to think critically, check information, and support honest reporting. This helps us make better decisions and trust information again.

Thank you.