Up@dawn 2.0

Tuesday, April 24, 2018

Truthiness. #8

When you think of the word Truthiness, what do you think the meaning of it is? Being truthful to yourself and to others? Facing the truth of something but trying to avoid it at the same time? The real meaning of Truthiness is actually believing in something from your gut not the actual proven facts. Especially how perception is everything now in the world of politics with the belief of voting for a politician base on their charisma than the facts. The comedian Stephen Colbert made up truthiness in which he first introduced it in 2005 from his show the Colbert Report:http://www.cc.com/video-clips/63ite2/the-colbert-report-the-word---truthiness 
The Colbert Report is actually a mock of  the news and politics on the Comedy Central Channel. The reason behind the word is because Colbert begin to mock the 90s and early 2000s political news. Colbert used President George W Bush as an example stating,
"People love the President because he's certain of his choices as a leader, even if the facts that back him up don't seem to exist. It's the fact that he's certain that is very appealing to a certain section of the country. I really feel a dichotomy in the American populace. What is important? What you want to be true, or what is true?..."
 Truthiness was name word of the year in 2005 by the American Dialect Society and made headlines through many broadcast news. Now, in 2018 when we think of the word Truthiness we now know that it is real and that it is a huge impact on how we choose our politicians and presidents. Americans do not think of the facts that are given to them even when it is a reliable source. Some Americans think that the facts that they are seeing is "fake news." Another word that was brought to the public's attention which can root back to the word Truthiness. Truthiness is an ugly word that is the complete opposite of what people think it is. The word that Colbert made up is now realistic to what we see on social media, in public, and the news. It is like when he made up that word everything that we thought is true is now a second guessing. Even watching CNN or Fox will separate the public because each viewer thinks the other channels are fake news because our own president said so or they saw a online conspiracy theory video about it. Listening to political podcasts are separating the listeners as well because many believe that NPR politician podcast talk more about the left than the right. I only know that these are separating the public because someone told me about choosing a news channel and the comments that are left by users hating on NPR. But where are the actual facts? How can a tweet or video of the President saying that a channel is fake news proves to be right? How can listeners prove that NPR podcasts are only for left wings and not right? All of this is based on gut feeling rather than actual facts. 2018 is the year that Americans explain why they choose a political party's side based on their gut feeling or even what a person told them. But not one of them brings up the actual facts or acknowledge it.. this will soon turn to an ugly shit show during the Presidential election of 2016. When I mean by that, i meant that people now choose to think that intuition is their guide to truth. Mark David declared that we have a brain in the belly with the brain listening to it happily. 
http://psychologyofeating.com/the-brain-in-the-belly/
Kurt Anderson ,who is the author of Fantasyland, revived truthiness on including it in his introduction of chapter one. The word truthiness I think, brought out many theories of what the government is trying to hide from the citizens. Anderson did state that back in the 1960s and beforehand that many people trusted our government more and what they tell us. However, the "truthiness" came out afterwards with it finally hitting all citizens after 9/11. With it, it made citizens not believe in what the government released to the public. I mean the only good think that made the public actually acknowledge Trump is when he declared to put out the assassination of JFK files to the public. Again, it all brings back to truthiness, the gut word where not many believe that Oswald actually did it which led to some civilians not trusting the government's statements or even reliable sources . This is just an example of what truthiness is about even though it was a made up word by Colbert it still plays a role of what others felt beforehand. The twenty first century brought us a lovely source called the Internet in which it made the news to be digital instead of print. I mean you still have print subscribers but some people, like me, like our news digital and faster. The thing is, since truthiness came out it brought out what others call, "fake news." People choosing if a reliable news outline is fake or not. Which they first decide from their gut brain. During the Presidental election of 2016, online news of both Trump and Hilary spread like wildfire, making one or the other bad and good. Which then made the country split sides of who they trust and vote. What I saw the same between the two candidates is how they both relied on pleasing the public. Which than made voters believe more on what they said instead of focusing on the actual facts of the politician. Another thing, when a fact was negative about each, Hilary for Benghazi and Trump for saying  inappropriate things, each side of voters dismissed it all. Although they used those negative facts against the other side while trying to justify why it is real or fake. All of this relates back to Truthiness because voters believed more in their gut than facts.  We now have words like "fake news", but more words began to developed around truthiness.  Here are other examples of what Colbert's truthiness reflects on our politics  
trump supporters
Clinton Supporters
Colbert on "Post Truth"




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2 comments:

  1. Very interesting article. I have never heard of that word until now. Very good research. I myself watch both cnn and fox and it is very clear they are competing with each other but I dont think its to educate the public but to draw in viewers for revenue. I prefer to research the actual facts and make my own opinion. I have learned to ignore the news media as well as political figures and entertainers and make my own informed decision.

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  2. The late Carl Sagan would respond, when asked what his gut told him, "I try not to think with my gut." He meant it's really okay, and even required, to suspend judgment until the facts warrant a judgment. But people nowadays don't want to wait, they want to pick a side. "My opinion, right or wrong." Colbert was prescient when he introduced that word a decade ago, as "Fantasyland" showed us we've gotten even "truthier" since.

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