We have decided we are a post-truth society. Turns out solving that problem is non-trivial when we rely on experts that are themselves human who view the world as post-truth.
We've always been a post-truth society. I think it's just how humans are. We want easy answers, and if there are none, we invent them. I don't think that the human from 1AD is better than the human from 2023AD for example. What we used to blame on God we now blame on 5G or whatever. Same stuff, different details.
What has changed in the past 2000 years is the availability of information. Nothing is 100% true other than defined Universal constants. Everything else is on a spectrum. Those that want to get closer to 100% truth have many tools to get them along. Those that don't care can ask ChatGPT and get something 25% true. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make them drink. That's just how people are, and AI isn't really changing that.
yeah but we had that really comfortable era for awhile there, where mass information dissemination was centralized in the hands of a few major institutions, so everyone was more or less on the same page—all you had to do was pick up a newspaper, or listen to the radio, or watch news on television.
this gave us the illusion that we were in a world of Truth, because why would these centralized corporations ever lie to us, or massage the facts in any way? it's The News, of course it's inherently trustworthy.
then the Web came about, causing some to see cracks in the foundations. then the iPhone was released, social media took off, and now the news monoculture is almost (but not quite) dead, and we're back to fending for ourselves in this onslaught of information.
We saw the cracks in the foundations but we also saw the foundations.
It cracks me up every time an alt media source throws shit at mainstream media for having journalistic standards that are far from perfect but still higher on an absolute level than said alt media. Retraction policies, always asking the accused for comment, citing sources, the list goes on. Unfortunately, it seems that people are more impressed by performative hatred of mainstream media than they are by the exercise of actual journalistic integrity, so I guess things will just get worse until (I have to hope) we figure it out again. Ah well, so it goes.
You don't get it. They are the experts. They know better than you, so they are going to say whatever is going to make you do what they want done. You are merely observing the shadows on the wall of a cave. Why should they let you make any important decisions?
I didn't decide that. I don't think most people I know would. Maybe lots of people feel like "others" have decided that, but they'd hardly do it off their own bat.
What has changed in the past 2000 years is the availability of information. Nothing is 100% true other than defined Universal constants. Everything else is on a spectrum. Those that want to get closer to 100% truth have many tools to get them along. Those that don't care can ask ChatGPT and get something 25% true. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make them drink. That's just how people are, and AI isn't really changing that.