The Language of Truth

 

May 16, 2020

 

You don’t need to use the language of truth.  You don’t have to aspire to the language of truth.  We must, however, at least recognize and value the language of truth.  It is our only way forward.

Sir Francis Bacon, a father of modern science and crafter of the scientific method, once wrote, “Our humanity is a poor thing, except for the divinity that stirs within us.”  Oh, to find either today.  Most recognize the higher truth of a divinity, but many no longer seem to recognize the language of truth either as legitimate, or worthwhile, or perhaps even at all. 

As students, we learn to recognize the linguistic patterns and methods of the pursuit of truth.  We learn to recognize credibility in the acknowledgement of observations running counter to anticipated results.  Such candor establishes veracity and objectivity, encouraging a spirit of self-criticism beneficial in the improvement of methods, of knowledge, of understanding, and thus outcomes.

As students, we also learn to emulate and leverage such elevated writing styles, delineating objective and subjective material in a clear and distinct manner; we are taught to support our assertions with credible citations and observable data.  Regrettably, however, those lessons appear largely lost.  Were he our instructor today, Bacon would encourage us to set aside our preconceived assumptions, and teach us to catalog purely neutral and disinterested observations.  That is science, the pursuit of truth.  The zeitgeist’s reactionary derision and dismissal of science for inconvenient or disappointing outcomes is absurdity and folly; the words science and certainty are no more equivalent in their meaning than planting and harvesting – though like the two, one naturally follows the other.

Much of what is read and heard today appears absent any objectivity or acknowledgement of contrary evidence and competing observations; it presents speculation as fact, eschews credible supporting data, and is disappointingly rife with ad hominem.  It is the antithesis of the language of truth, and many now view such language not only as persuasive, but even aspirational. 

This is utter madness.

As our population devolves toward anti-science, the precision and objectivity of scientists, researchers, mathematicians, statisticians, physicians, and other essential professionals continues to fall out of favor with a public no longer valuing nor aspiring to academic achievement.  We are left with a notion that lesser knowledge is more, that willful ignorance is preferable to learned understanding, and thus by logical extension, we draw the conclusion that lower levels of effort yield greater results.  We are all – in this hour of global crisis – witnessing the failure of such assumptions.

These failures form the lessons our children take away.

These failures stain the pages of our history.

So, we can no longer leverage the assets of our academic and scientific communities as we did during the mid-twentieth century, at the apex of American leadership around the globe.  We have scant desire for it.  We cannot do what we did when America was great.  We no longer command those heights.

Instead we are gripped in a collective and cultish cognitive dissonance, unable to distinguish fact from fiction, susceptible to manipulation, placing the entire nation in grave danger.  In consequence, those who recognize the language of truth are ever more disconnected from those who do not, exacerbating our naturally occurring geographic cultural divide.  Other nations whose people do not share such anti-intellectual biases are now actively exploiting our cultural (and resultingly systemic) weaknesses, as are many of the very citizens we have together entrusted to steer our ship of state. 

A lee shore awaits us all.