I was just a small child when I saw my first Disney movie, "Fantasia", but I still remember the sense of joy and wonder it invoked in me. More than anything else, the characters that Walt Disney created: Mickey, Goofy, Donald Duck, Snow white and the Seven dwarfs, etc.etc. offered unadulterated, innocent fun. Animation, for many perhaps viewed as "kid's stuff", has come far since then, often venturing into the opposite of "innocent" fun, and some of it could definitely not be classified as "kid's stuff".
What do I mean with "the Age of Incredulity"?
Incredulity has many definitions, let me suggest a few: skepticism, distrust, denial, suspicion, disbelief, and so on...so the age of incredulity could also be "the age of mistrust and suspicion".
Watching a program on the TV in which a panel of professional people representing different areas of "expertise" were discussing how we, aka "the people", are affected by mass-media and the issue of free speech, one of the panelists had this to say: "We are all entitled to our own opinions, but not to our own facts".
Facts, in my view, is really important for a reasonable and logical exchange of ideas to take place, so what happens when facts no longer hold sway (influence)? What happens to the foundation of a society and its people when a fact can become unreliable by just putting the word "alternative" in front of it, and news dismissed out of hand by just putting the word "fake" in front of it?
Incredulity.
If we can't trust facts, what happens to science? Medicine? Technology? The judicial system? The educational system?.... to mention a few areas. (Fact: knowledge and or information based on actual occurrences.)
In order for a society to function and support its members, necessitates a level of congruence and congruence is achieved when a society has a number of agreed upon "do's and dont's" which the members of that society adhere to. In a democracy, generally speaking a free press is often considered a corner stone providing the populace (us) with pertinent, honest and authentic information on what is going on in our own society as well as in others. "The only freedom for us all is in a free press." (Thomas Jefferson, american president) Commonly what is meant with "freedom of the press" is the right to circulate opinions & information in print and or through the use of electronic media, without censorship by a government/governmental body.
Can facts be "alternative"? I guess that depends on how we define facts. Can News be "fake"? I guess that depends on how we define News....
Words are problematic; because they are often ambiguous and can be interpreted and defined differently by different people. Words are important; they make communication with others easier, and in my view we use them to define the world we live in. Words can be powerful; they can comfort, tell stories, support, be constructive or destructive, they can heal, encourage, belittle, shame, insult, etc. etc.
This ambiguity can be rather disconcerting for some of us, especially if we seek certainty in an ever more uncertain world. If news can be fake, how do we identify authentic news? If facts can be alternative, how do we identify correct/true facts?
For some of us, gut instincts and feelings may play an important role in deciding which is what, but, are gut instincts and feelings really to be trusted?
It may feel safe to trust our gut, but the problem with that is that gut instinct is mostly based on previous experiences and knowledge, and is therefore limited by our own perceptions. Our perceptions, although they may be experienced by us as "truth" are often subjected to subconscious bias and erroneous thinking, and gut instinct, although at times quite helpful, in my view can also at times be an obstacle that prevents us from gaining deeper insight and understanding.
"We believe what we want to believe", "we see what we want to see", "we don't see the world as it is, we see it as we are", "we don't see the world as it is, but as we believe it to be"...quotes by wise folks, but not particularly helpful for those of us seeking certainty.
Mankind has lived through a number of different "Ages": The Dark Ages, The Age of Enlightenment and Reason, the Industrial Age, the Age of Technology and Information, each age bringing with it new insights and knowledge but.... have we now come full circle? Are we now guided by instincts, superstition and feelings like in the Dark Ages?
Have now entered the Age of Incredulity/Mistrust?
If facts can be alternative, news fake, politicians self-serving rather than serving their society, the medical profession bought by big Pharma companies rather than being motivated by patient care, governments owned by Mega rich individuals with hidden agendas rather than run by people wanting to serve its constituents, "Churches" driven by the pursuit of money rather than faith, etc.etc. what is left for us to put our trust into?
I wish I knew the answer, but all I have is this:
Change. We can trust in change.
Ages come and ages go.
In spite of mistrust around us, we still get
to chose to find something to put our trust and support into.
"If we consider carefully the options put before us
So much wisdom, so much love, so much waiting for us,
and if we look ahead, there's the sun and the seasons,
another day, another age of reason."
(Lyrics to the song "Age of Reason" by Pigott, Johanna Paton/Hunter, Todd Stuart)
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