Sep 5th, 2024

“”If everything isn’t black & white, I say, “why the hell not”…
– John Wayne

It is hardly surprising that the most famous cowboy in the world had the sort of world view that makes those early westerns so appealing. They were all black & white morality tales that left no room for grey – the facts were clear, the truth was unambiguous – and so the fastest guns in the west defended and fought for that truth, with all of us cinema goers cheering them on.

“I see the world as black & white, and I don’t like compromising”
– Greta Thunberg

Another great crusader – this time a person who is active in the real world – is looking to do whatever she can to motivate all of us to save the planet. To succeed, we all need to agree on the facts, because if we don’t, our opinion of what the truth is may well differ. The relationship of facts and truth is more complex than it first appears as whilst facts should be indisputable, based on empirical research and quantifiable measures , truth may include facts, but it can also include belief – that is the view we take of facts or evidence.

“A lie gets half way around the world before the truth has a chance to gets its pants on”
– Winston Churchill

An astute observation already made at a time when the world was analogue and before instant access to all today’s news and stories. “The lie” – the deliberate statement to deceive and mislead – has always of course been the weapon used to spread propaganda, hatred, racism etc – but perhaps today with its online viral capabilities it is one of the greatest dangers that we all face in making all our decisions and in forming all our opinions.

“Truth is like the sun. You can shut it out for a time, but it aint goin’ away.”
– Elvis Presley

“The Truth is” that it is unrealistic to achieve a 100% consensus on many complex issues which are by their nature shades of grey rather than black & white – but by the same token there are many many issues that are obfuscated by lies and deceit in every avenue of life which all of us need to crusade against, so that the good guys and the Greta Thunbergs of this world can get the facts and truth out there and change things for the better.

“All I want is the truth, now
Just give me some truth, now”
– John Lennon