Why are we still listening to liars?
Are we stupid or do we just enjoy being lied to?
Why are we still listening to known liars?
Many people prefer lies to truth
Even liars want to appear honest
Sometimes there’s no point in arguing
We must guard against our own biases
Are Americans stupid or do we just enjoy being lied to?
Why are we still getting our news from the people who told us, right up until minutes before the Trump/Biden debate, that Biden was “energetic” and "sharp as a tack"
and videos showing otherwise were "cheap fakes"
and the border is secure
and there is no immigration crisis
and COVID came from a wet market
and the COVID jabs were safe
and effective
and they were vaccines
and Ivermectin was for horses
and COVID spread asymptomatically
and masks worked
and social distancing worked
and school closures worked
and lockdowns worked
and COVID was a "pandemic of the unvaccinated"
and BLM/Antifa riots were “mostly peaceful”
and Trump colluded with Russia
and he put children in cages
and he banned Muslims
and his tax cuts were for the rich
and there was a pee tape
and the DNC server was hacked by Russia
and Hunter Biden's laptop was Russian disinformation
and Trump called nazis "good people"
and he told us to inject bleach
and he stole the 2016 election from Hillary Clinton
and 2020 was “the most secure election in history"
and January 6th was an insurrection
and Brett Kavanaugh was a serial rapist
and Kyle Rittenhouse was a murderer
and the Border Patrol whipped invaders
and the Covington Catholic kids were racist provocateurs
and there was a noose in Bubba Wallace's garage
and Jussie Smollett was assaulted by Trump supporters
and on and on and on?
Many people prefer lies to truth
Why do so many people continue getting their news and information from the same sources who peddled these lies? Are they stupid?
As a rule, no. There will always be stupid people, of course, just as there will always be intelligent people, but stupidity alone can hardly account for the volume of those knowingly indulging in lies.
The root problem is not stupidity but corruption. People get their information from disreputable sources because they want disreputable information.
Truth is occasionally inconvenient for all of us, but for those who have wedded themselves to lies, truth is not just an inconvenience, it’s an enemy. Such people keep returning to a poisoned well because they want poison — they want to be lied to.
For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.
The goal is to have their beliefs reaffirmed regardless of whether they are true. This is called “confirmation bias” and it can be thought of as a preference for comfortable lies over uncomfortable truths. People seeking to have their biases confirmed will intentionally get their information from sources they know will never challenge their beliefs, even (and perhaps especially) when they know those beliefs are wrong.
Even liars want to appear honest
But despite their commitment to falsehood, they still want the appearance of truth because truth has a singular, insurmountable authority. They may have no use for truth itself, but they desperately want to wield its power, both to justify their agenda and to stamp out all opposition.
This is why they’ve tried to co-opt science. Truth is both the pursuit and the currency of science, so if they can make an association in the public mind between science and their agenda, their proclamations will be widely regarded as true and therefore authoritative, a perception they will inevitably use to censor all information detrimental to their agenda. I offer as evidence every single event that took place during COVID tyranny.
The speciousness doesn’t end there, of course. As we’re all well aware, truth is frequently mischaracterized as misinformation or disinformation (or the ludicrous “malinformation”), the purpose of which is to make honest men look like liars and liars like honest men.
And then there’s the phrase “my truth,” which is verbal sleight-of-hand intended to ascribe the indomitable, divine nature of truth to some dude’s opinion.
Sometimes there’s no point in arguing
Unfortunately, arguing with such people is a waste of time and an unnecessary driver of ulcers and hypertension. Or so I’ve been told.
If your goal is to ascertain the truth and your opponent’s goal is to evade it, the two of you are headed to polar opposite destinations. Giving him truth will come to nothing because a person who did not choose his position based on truth will not change his position based on truth.
This is why Jesus said:
Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.
When we’re dealing with someone who refuses to hear truth, our best move is to just back off and pray for him. Nothing good will come of pressing the issue.
And frankly, some arguments are not worth the cost of winning, and thus not even worth having. It’s in our interest personally, nationally, and internationally to pick our battles wisely, particularly when the entire world is a powder keg just waiting for someone to strike a match.
Guarding against our own biases
Finally, we have to realize that confirmation bias is a natural human tendency. It may be standard operating procedure for those with certain worldviews, but it’s still a tendency that appeals to all of us.
For that reason, we have to guard against the proclivity to uncritically accept comfortable narratives. It’s easy to get frustrated with people who resist truth, but we can’t justifiably demand of them a standard we ourselves refuse to uphold.