The Seven Sad Synonyms for Post-Truth

Dear Jessica Brennan,

We are hearing a lot right now about how we are living in the post-truth era. How sad to even write these words. It is difficult to combat politics and the media when it comes to the truth, and I know that in the purest definition of this phrase “post-truth”, it is based on the observation that emotion, not actual fact, often forms public opinion.  That being said, the phrase itself as it is thrown around, indicates so much more than emotion versus fact. After all it is now the phrase used to describe an entire era.

Of course as the public, we must learn to measure what we are hearing, with what our guts tell us and what history and science have already shown us, and we must, (particularly in large decisions like for instance who we will vote for), dig for the truth and be informed. Common-sense seems to agree. But greater than this I think we must resist the urge to become a part of the post-truth era movement in our day to day lives. For we are living in a time that commands us to be the most informed and authentic we have ever been and because we are connected like never before in the history of the world, we don’t have to accept, in fact have no excuse to accept this prognosis of limited or non-existent truth.

In order to dig into this subject I went back to the folks at the Oxford Dictionary, the very people who voted for “post-truth” as the 2016 word of the year, and I took a look at the words that form this trendy gold-ribbon winner.

The word “post” means “after”.  After-truth then indicates that at some point we were living in an era of truth, which is a debate for another day.  But in any case the term certainly tells us that we are currently not living in the truth-era, so let’s start there.

Truth is a tricky word. Whose truth? Mine? Yours? Generally accepted truth or emotional truth? According to the definition, emotional truth is what got us to this point. Let’s look at it all.

Before we dive in though, I would like to submit that we all decide every time we speak, if we are living in a post-truth or truly-authentic era. I choose authenticity, and here are seven reasons why. Seven synonyms that help provide explanations of what no-truth would mean and why I refuse to operate in the realm of post-truth.

1. 1. Post-verity – Verity is a truth of fundamental importance. This kind of truth can determine a sentence or an acquittal. It can get you the raise or keep you from getting fired.
   2. Post-fidelity – There is a reason why the word fidelity is used regarding both sound systems and truth. Fidelity is a truth that has precision. It contains loyalty. Without fidelity our relationships break down and our families fall apart.
   3. Post-sincerity – In the presence of sincerity we live without hypocrisy, deceit and trickery. Sincerity is truth from the depths of your heart.
   4. Post-candor – Candor deals in openness and transparency and invites a frank discussion about what’s really going on.   If candor is not celebrated then innuendo, a vital tool of the garden-variety bully, rules the day. Candor is essential to good health.  I speak from experience.
   5. Post-honesty – Pure, clear honesty is the very essence of integrity, without it there is no ground-zero.  In an era of post-honesty, anyone could say anything without accountability, and chaos would abound.
   6. Post-certainty – Lack of certainty brings an era with no conviction and nothing to anchor us.
   7. Post-veracity – Without veracity we have less accuracy, correctness, or as the dictionary describes it, habitual honesty. In fact we have habitual dishonesty.

1. We decide if we are in a post-truth era.  We must make it our own responsibility to be informed. We must hold ourselves accountable to seek and tell the truth. We decide if our world contains honesty and sincerity or if we just roll over while bullies and liars run us down with their hypocrisy and deceit. We don’t have to look to positions of political world power to find examples of this. We should not condone a post-truth era in our homes, jobs, places of worship or corner stores. The lack of truth in our society is not new, but our willingness to accept it as fact is. I say the term post-truth is a product of the trendy, so-called post-truth era it represents. It is based in reality TV, not in reality, and I say no to that era, and no to the temptation of falling back lazily on the Oxford Dictionary’s 2016 word of the year.

I hope you do too.

Love Mum

xo