What is fact

In this era of so called ‘Fake News’ we are confined to an information sphere where no one truly knows what genuine truth is, fact, simple ignorance, or the placement of deliberate misinformation. The latter used to be one of the antichrists great weapons, but this is no longer the domain of the ant-establishment brigade. This method of utilising control over the public is now much used by the centre ground of politics as well as the various factions of the left and right. Of course, politicians, governments and the ever-dictatorial civil service are not the only prefabricators of such news. It is a system now implemented widely by the financial institutions, global companies, and the media to get the mases to accept their products and beliefs so they can grow ever richer in wealth and more importantly control.

The Oxford dictionary states that fact is; a thing that is known or proved to be true.

The Cambridge dictionary gives a more descriptive version of what fact is; something that is known to have happened or to exist, especially something for which proof exists, or about which there is information.

Wikipedia has a more open conclusion; A fact is a datum about one or more aspects of a circumstance, which, if accepted as true and proven true, allows a logical conclusion to be reached on a true-false evaluation.

Dictionary.com, has an even more varied interpretation: 1.something that actually exists; reality; truth: 2. something known to exist or to have happened: 3. a truth known by actual experience or observation; something known to be true: 4. something said to be true or supposed to have happened: 5. Law. Often facts. an actual or alleged event or circumstance, as distinguished from its legal effect or consequence.

So, if we consider the opinions above can we definitely say that we understand what fact is?

In the world today we are submitted to ‘Fact Checking.’ Much of this may be with good intentions to protect us the common servants from basic lies but with the plethora of groups claiming to do this we should perhaps be asking who checks the ‘fact checkers? Yes, many of these groups abide by the principles of the International Fact-Checking Network, which are: verifiable-veracity-accuracy.

The question is how can the populous be assured that the facts the ‘fact checkers’ are confirming are genuine. Do we accept that most will act in good faith but is there not some bias? How is it decided that the data the ‘fact checkers’ use to confirm or refute published information is not already compromised by priming or indeed plain wrong?

The use of false pictures on the various media platform’s is a now a widely used form of misinformation. A picture is worth more than a thousand words and all that. True of course as our mind responds more positively to pictures, so suggestibility comes into its own. This is one area where the ‘Fact Checkers’ must be congratulated. They will fastidiously study a photo with the use of an entire range of data sets, thus determining if the photograph is actually showing a true visual interpretation and as such is factual.

There is perhaps an assumption that we can never be duped. Reality is that on occasions the falsifiers will be better than those who seek the truth so there will still be instances where we still are misled. For whatever reason.

A look at history should educate us on being careful of what we accept as fact. Modern day archaeology and better ageing techniques are changing our perception of when, how and where ancient events took place. The use of DNA is at times showing that we misunderstood where we came from. The ‘facts’ that you were getting in school are changing. The most obvious of these is about America. Several decades ago, if a lawmaker had stood on the podium and said that Christopher Columbus was not the first person to find the continent, he/she would have been annihilated by the ‘fact checkers.’ Yet here we are, there is a new acceptance that the Norsemen were there many generations before. So, fact has changed! Still, we should ask is that the actual fact. Is it not the native American who crossed on the land bridge from Asia that are the true finders of the continent?

Verifiable fact is one of the mainstays of the law in most countries. Much is placed on eyewitness testimony, yet in a few cases in the aftermath this has turned out to be incorrect. Ask any police officer who interviews six people at an assumed crime scene and at least two out of the six will have a different interpretation of the event, description of the people involved and who said what. This is caused by false memories or distorted recollection; it is not necessarily intentionally malicious it is just how the human brain records data. Of course, we automatically assume the two are wrong and the four are correct, so that will be believed as fact. Really?

Our acceptance of who and what we believe may be tested in the near future as we learn more about the devastating COVID outbreak. Where did it come from? Why did it suddenly appear? Where the lockdowns, which changed our lives so dramatically the correct way to deal with it? The answers to these questions will surely change as history goes along and we learn more. Even today academia cannot agree on where the infection originated. Initially we were told it started from bat meat in Wuhan, then there was a suggestion the infection spread from research facilities, which was fiercely denied by the scientific world. Now we are back being told by the security services that there is indeed a high chance the disease did spread from a laboratory. What now is fact? Where have the ‘Fact Checkers’ been during these ensuing years? We are told by the scientific world that they only deal with verifiable facts. Yet here we are with the so-called truth continually changing. Indeed, the scientific world seem to be unable to agree what is genuine, what is misinterpretation and what is pure fallacy when it comes to one of the traumatic events in recent world history. Does the academic and political world still think that the general populace is going to continue to accept what they say can be trusted as fact?

The Mandela Effect as identified by the paranormal researcher Fiona Broome may be one of the most powerful forces in the modern world. For those who have not heard about this, The Mandela Effect refers to a situation in which a large mass of people believes that an event occurred when it did not. So, in our own minds we establish a ‘fact’ which does not exist. Is that frightening? The assumption would be that this is caused by direct or subtle suggestibility which accumulates in false memories or beliefs. Yet, what factual evidence is there that the minds of a mass of people can be influenced if there is no direct connection between them all? Perhaps this phenomenon or is it noumenon, which was first identified by a paranormal researcher is an indication there is much we still do not understand or have knowledge off in our ‘fact’ based world.

The conclusion being Never take for granted that what you are told or read is correct. Misinformation in whatever form is not a new event or experience, as a species it has been part of our physic since we appeared on the planet. Indeed, it is part of the natural world. The Chameleon changing its colour to blend into its surroundings being the most obvious. The great danger now, is that in our technological superfast highways, a so-called fact can be everywhere in a minute and change world events forever.