Wikipedia defines Post Fact as follows:
Post-fact politics (also called post-truth politics) is a political culture in which debate is framed largely by appeals to emotion disconnected from the details of policy, and by the repeated assertion of talking points to which factual rebuttals are ignored. Post-truth differs from traditional contesting and falsifying of truth by rendering it of “secondary” importance. While this has been described as a contemporary problem, there is a possibility that it has long been a part of political life, but was less notable before the advent of the Internet.
In simpler terms, Post Fact is Bulls..t (B.S.) Keep in mind this is not referring to someone telling a tall tale, a teenager lying about where he or she was until 1:00 AM, or even an accountant cooking the books. This term has been coined because of the continual B.S. streaming from our elected officials and political appointees at the highest levels of government.
To Live Honorably in a Post-Fact World, there are two questions we must ask ourselves. First, do we ourselves practice Post Fact reality, and second, assuming we do not, how do we honorably function in a world that has not only accepted Post Fact conduct (B.S.) but actually given it a legitimate designation.
Disregard for facts is a dangerous exercise. Facts are a saving grace, they give us direction and form the foundation on which we conduct our daily rational lives.
There are indisputable facts; such as gravity, the inevitability of death, or that the earth is round. Then there are generally accepted truths; those things that while cannot be scientifically proven to an absolute degree, most believe to be true; George Washington is the Father of our country, man landed on the moon in 1969, and Abraham Lincoln abolished slavery with the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, or President Obama was born in the United States.
Any society, certainly a democratic society relies upon facts, just as surely as it depends on laws. When there is intentional or even casual disregard for the facts, or worse when there are those who purposely seek to re-state the facts to suit their own ends, there results a major impact on society’s ability to function justly.
Just imagine if someone who for some reason didn’t like you, showed up at the police station one day to claim you stole their car. You would certainly rely on the facts to prove your innocence. A world where facts can be invented to suit our needs would be frightening indeed.
To a greater or lesser degree each of us is subject to the human weaknesses of ego and vanity. To only hearing what we want to hear, to only listening to those who agree with us. Advertisers, Marketers, Con-Men and Charlatans have been taking advantage of this aspect of human nature since the dawn of recorded history and probably well before.
While technological advances represent some of the greatest achievements in human history, they are also leading to a society that is becoming increasingly insulated and indifferent to events and views going on outside our own sphere of daily life.
It seems that Political “leaders” can offer any Post-Fact claims or “alternative facts” they wish, and in today’s digitally wired world they are given instant legitimacy. But Post-Facts cannot exist, they have no merit, unless we allow them to take root. Therefore, we must have the courage, the discipline, and the Honor, to acknowledge what is true and reject Post Facts (Bulls..t). Our indifference to this moral degradation leaves us just as guilty as those who seek to practice it.
“The price of apathy towards public affairs is to be ruled by evil men.” …Plato