Fake news, religion, science

The Trump era will be known for a number of things; but it will always be known by many people as the era of “fake news.” Personally, I was not familiar with this term until it became a Trump staple every time he had a press conference or a rally. People now identify this term with Trumpism. In some circles, this was known as the “post truth.”

I never took this deviation from the truth seriously. It seemed hard to believe that a lot of people would fall for it. Then the presidential election resulted in Trump getting 70 million votes. This sounded unbelievable for someone who constantly lied and made people believe that those lies were the truth.

At first I believed the story that those who believed in the post truths of Trump were ignorant or those who were not well educated. However, I have discovered that many college graduates and people who were educated believed in the “fake news” or conspiracy theories of Trump. I wondered how this could happen in the 21st century when we are already talking about artificial intelligence and robotics and biomedical advances unthinkable a generation ago.

So what caused the rise of fake news so it became part of our daily lives? Was it the rise of the internet or social media? Was it the rise of people like Trump, Putin or Xi Jinping?

A look at the history of mankind reveals that propaganda and disinformation are nothing new. Perhaps the spread of fake news is now much faster because of social media.

China has long denied that Tibet was ever a separate and independent country. The Zionist made the world believe that Palestine was the homeland of the Jews when there was already millions of Palestinians living there when they decided to resettle there. When the British first settled in Australia and took over the land, they invoked terra nullius or nobody’s land, ignoring the fact that this continent was already inhabited by aboriginal people who had been there for fifty thousand years.

In his book 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, Yuval Noah Harari wrote:

“I am aware that many people might be upset by my equating religion with fake news but that’s exactly the point. When a thousand people believe some made up story for one month, that’s fake news. When a billion people believe it for a thousand years, that’s religion and we are admonished not to call it ‘fake news’ in order not to hurt the feelings of the faithful or incur their wrath.”

But even Harari could not deny the effectiveness of religion because by bringing people together, religious creeds make large scale cooperation possible. In addition, they inspire people to build hospitals, schools and churches.

There are many who believe that Adam and Eve never really existed and the seven days of creation never really happened. These stories may be considered as “fake news” by some people, but to the millions who have faith in the Bible, these are stories that inspire and encourage humans to be compassionate, courageous and even creative.

If the Bible has stories that are legends and myths, so do all books of the major religions – the Quran, Talmud, Book of Mormon, Vedas, Avesta. There are examples in history of entire people believing in these post truths. In the 1930s and 1940s, the Germans were the most educated and scientifically oriented people in the world. Hitler was able to convince them that the Aryan race was the superior race and that the Jews should all be killed. Here in Asia, at the same time the Japanese believed in the divinity of Emperor Hirohito and it was not until the Japanese were defeated that Hirohito publicly proclaimed he was not a god.

There is, of course, a world of difference between the Bible and the fake news of Trump. But Harari has an interesting story:

“Branding often involves retelling the same fictional story again and again until people become convinced it is the truth. What images come to mind when you think about Coca Cola? Do you think about healthy young people engaging in sports and having fun together? Or do you think about overweight diabetes patients lying in a hospital bed? Drinking lots of Coca Cola will not make you young, will not make you healthy and will not make you athletic – rather it will increase your chances of suffering from obesity and diabetes. Yet for decades Coca Cola has invested billions of dollars in linking itself to youth, health and sports – and billions of humans subconsciously believe in this linkage.”

How does one search for the truth? There are two ways that I know. Both of them are not perfect. One way is to read relevant scientific literature that are peer reviewed or read books published by well known academic publishers. One can also read books and articles by academicians from highly reputable educational institutions.

The other way is to turn to religion and religious books that will at the very least show the path to the truth. In the Bible, there are stories that are not true, but they contain lessons that are the truths.

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An invitation to online writing classes: Young Writers’ Hangout, Nov. 21, 2-3 pm. with Rin Chupeco.

Adult Series on Writing Human Interest Stories, Nov. 28, 2-3:30 pm with Paulynn P. Sicam.

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