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"The truth is not whatever we believe or perceive it to be. But the trouble with post-modernism is that it can become self-fulfilling. When those in positions o
by jruohonen 3y ago
"The truth is not whatever we believe or perceive it to be. But the trouble with post-modernism is that it can become self-fulfilling. When those in positions of power decide the truth can be whatever they wish were the case, the floodgates open. Now it is not clear they can ever be closed, and that spells grave danger for all of us."
- nonrandomstring 3y ago> those in positions of power decide the truth can be whatever they wish were the case In my lifetime and political growth I first noticed this in the Bush/Blair era, and to cope with it I made a distinction between power and authority that still serves me well today. Any idiot with a gun can take power. An "authority" must earn its legitimacy. Most people in political life today understand and seek only power. They are indifferent to truth because they know legitimacy is on the back-foot in our time. Legitimate authority was hard won, but too easy to destroy by any mudslinger or shrill. Today the gun is unnecessary. Any idiot with control over a DNS server, and ISP, a corporate or university IT system., or a social media technology can hold truth to ransom. The digital world needs to imagine new forms of legitimacy.