The Evolution of Truth

One of the great things about gravity is that it never changes. What went up yesterday also went down. That will still be the case today and tomorrow, too. In fact, gravity is one of the rare topics in today's world that people do not seem to argue over or dispute. Truth used to be that way, too. It was considered by all to be actual fact - reality beyond question. Unfortunately, truth no longer seems to be what it used to. Perhaps a better way to put it is that truth is no longer perceived the way it used to be. More and more people of different backgrounds and different perspectives on the world seem to have their own truth as opposed to one that all share (other than about gravity).


This relatively new reality is the result, I believe, of a need people have not only communicate, but to receive validation, be understood and accepted, and, ultimately, to be influential or make a difference. This evolution of truth escalated during the Progressive Era (1890 - 1917). Muckrakers or what we might term investigative journalists ignited the change with their aggressive reporting in attempting to exposure corporate and government corruption. Understandably, many on the receiving end of these efforts did not appreciate the negative way in which they and their peers were depicted. As a result, they turned to other professional communicators - public relations practitioners -  to begin showcasing their own truth about particular issues.


It is not as if these leaders wanted to hide the truth from the public. Rather, they wanted the public to better understand their perspective or version of the information before them. Public relations professionals began creating position papers, press releases and other communiques for public consumption all geared to showcase truth from the perspective of their client. In their quest to resent all sides of an issue, reporters began looking for other perspectives to include in their stories. Thus, facts alone  no longer became the focus of attention. Instead, the competing perspectives did. Truth was no longer just truth. In fact, in many ways it seems as if now we are seeing it be replaced by opinion or perspective. This is definitely a topic worthy of further review.