In
Bird by Bird (one of my Best Reads in 2012), Anne Lamott talks
about how writers develop characters. She says “a writer paradoxically seeks
the truth and tells lies every step of the way… You make up your characters …
and you need to feel committed to telling the exact truth about them, even
though you are making them up. I suppose the basic moral reason for doing this
is the Golden Rule. I don’t want to be lied to; I want you to tell me the
truth, and I will try and tell it to you.”
Whoa!
Hold on a minute! Lamott wants the truth, and she’ll “try”
and give it in return. Hmmm…
I
don’t think Lamott is being sly. In fact, she sounds very sincere. So what
gives here? Is the truth that ambiguous that the best we can do is “try” and
tell it? And if it is, then how can we expect to be told the truth? Won’t everyone else face the same challenges we
do?
Thinking
along these lines reminded me of a book review I'd read for The
Post-Truth Era: Dishonesty and Deception in Contemporary Life, by Ralph
Keyes. In this book, Keyes argues that “lying has [now] become as common as
scratching itches.”
“Okay, slow down,” you say. “Lamott wasn’t talking about lying. She was simply allowing for the fact that she might not tell
the whole truth.”
Ah grasshopper ... you
are proving Keyes’ point! He writes, “Post-truthfulness exists in an ethical twilight
zone. It allows us to dissemble without considering ourselves dishonest.” Because the word "lie" is so harsh and judgmental, Keyes
says, we don’t tell lies anymore. Instead we “misspeak,” “exaggerate,” “exercise
poor judgment,” and “make mistakes.” We don’t “deceive” we “spin.”
Society
has long learned to accept, even expect,
lies from corporate representatives, politicians, and those making a living in “Hollyweird,”
but Keyes’ assertions go well beyond that. When he says “I think it’s fair to
say that honesty is on the ropes,” he’s talking about you and me, folks (and presumably
him, too).
The
consequences of this view of truth are serious, according to Keyes—although I’m
not disagreeing. Here’s a quote from his website. “Post-truthfulness builds a fragile
social edifice based on wariness. It erodes the foundation of trust that
underlies any healthy civilization. When enough of us peddle fantasy as fact,
society loses its grounding in reality. Society would crumble altogether
if we assumed others were as likely to dissemble as tell the truth. We are perilously
close to that point.”
This sounds awful. Tomorrow, I'm going to try and get through the entire day without one single "truth shading." I'll let you know how I make out!
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