Response to Brian Easton on Pundit concerning 2016 word of the year, ‘post-truth’
Posted: January 5, 2017 Filed under: Other, responses | Tags: "This Changes Everything", Brian Easton, Dennis Frank, fear, Naomi Klein, Oxford Dictionary, post-truth politics, Pundit Leave a commentBrian,
Well done to list and briefly describe all those cognitive bias proclivities, but how have you used them to explain your ‘great perplexity’? Please go on; in fact, if you are greatly perplexed then you have an obligation to delve further into it.
Charlie has asked the obvious question: So what’s changed and why has this come to the fore just now? The first thing to say here is that the Oxford Dictionary definition of ‘post-truth’ doesn’t really say much about ‘just now’. The word might be ‘just now’, but their definition isn’t. ‘. . . appeals to emotion and personal belief’ have been a part of politics, in fact just about any aspect of human culture throughout history. So the definition doesn’t help us explain why the new word is the word of the year. Again, why has this come to the fore just now? Charlie’s explanation is OK, but weak. Please have more of a go at it, thanks, Brian.
Others have had a go at change. For example, Naomi Klein, “This Changes Everything”. I’d say that was having a real go at it.
