Donald Trump and the 2020 Election (Nico)

A topical example that comes to mind when thinking about post-truth in the political world is observable in the world of former U.S President Donald Trump. Since losing the presidential election to current President Joe Biden, Trump has stood by his assertion that the election results were rigged in favour of Biden and that the establishment did, in fact, steal the election that was he believes was rightfully his. This strong stance stands tall still in 2023, a considerable length of time after he was declared the loser in the last election. One man’s delusions and refusal to accept results certified by his former Vice President does not constitute post-truth though. This is where an active audience becomes relevant. According to a report from The Conversation published in March of 2024, 66% of Republican voters and nearly 30% of Americans from across the political spectrum agreed that the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump, and that incumbent President Biden was elected by illegal means. With ten Republican voters in a room, nearly seven of them will declare that Trump actually won the election; with ten assorted Americans in a room, roughly three of them are agreeing as well. To channel stronger emotions and greater group belief, Donald Trump started his own social platform called Truth Social, where nearly all users support Donald Trump and do not have faith in the electoral process. Ironically, the platform should be called Post-Truth Social, as the users simply echo Trump’s words to one another and engage in a culture of post-truthiness. The messages they share are spread so consistently with such a flagrant disregard for the actual truth that they wound up truly believing in what they say and do. Post-truth emerges within this community as users fall further and further into the trap of living and breathing claims of a falsified 2020 election. Time will tell if this post-truthiness impacts the way people vote in the 2024 Presidential election, as well as their behaviour – particularly if Trump does not win.

https://theconversation.com/why-do-millions-of-americans-believe-the-2020-presidential-election-was-stolen-from-donald-trump-224016

Navigating Information in a Post-Truth Era – Post-Truth and Natural Sciences

            Alves (2020) discusses the subjectivity of the natural sciences, more specifically providing explanations as to how science is permeable to values. Science is conducted by human beings who carry values, whether unintentionally or with purpose, which reflects on the hypotheses they write, the experiments they conduct, in addition to the data and findings which are produced. Additionally, truth is at the heart of science and medicine, but so is debate and the existence of ideological positions (Marmot, 2017). The truth is sought out by anyone that wishes to understand something or support an argument of their own.

On the other hand, “science denialism” presents a “radical expression” of distrust in scientific experts which contributes to misinformation, conspiracy theories, and fake news (Ferrari et al., 2023, p. 143). This perception of truth has many nuanced issues of its own, mainly in its refusal to believe research in most (if not all) forms. Unlike the previously explained arguments surrounding the formations, interpretations, conclusions of scientific evidence, those who deny the natural sciences may not have strong evidence to support their own claims. However, there is a power struggle present in these arguments, a struggle to decide what is true and what is false (Ferrari et al., 2023). Each of these factors make it difficult to detect what is ‘true’ when navigating information in a post-truth era.

Alves (2020) makes note of the “sub-determination of a theory by data,” which explains how one set of data can produce two separate conclusions that may contradict each other (p. 1). This is possible due to data-driven nature currently present in both natural science and social science research, where analysis conduct research without first creating an underlying hypothesis or research question. Researchers can then create narratives based on the conducted research which may be influenced by their personal values or be in support of the argument that they are trying to create.  It is important to understand why truth is sought out in the first place, and whether it is possible that a truth only supports a narrative that is favourable for who is making the claim.

There certainly should be more of a focus on epistemology in universities, and that students should study as both efficient laboratory technicians in addition to being trained in the field of philosophy (Alves, 2020). Science is conducted by humans who are always seeking for information and truths; however, this also includes the critique of oneself. The natural sciences must be considered through a set of different perspectives and research questions in order to see the bigger picture on why a particular set of research is actually being conducted.

[RL]

References

Alves, M. (2020). The Natural Fallacy in a Post-Truth era: A perspective on the natural

sciences’ permeability to values. EMBO Reports, 21(2), e49859–e49859.

https://doi.org/10.15252/embr.201949859

Ferrari, F., Lorusso, A. M., Moruzzi, S., & Volpe, G. (2023). Perspectives on Post-Truth. Social

Epistemology, 37(2), 141–149. https://doi.org/10.1080/02691728.2023.2184219

Marmot, M. (2017). Post-truth and science. The Lancet (British Edition), 389(10068), 497–498.

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(17)30207-6