The Illusion of Truth

Truth is only your brain’s take on reality. Have you ever heard the remark, “life is an illusion or perception is reality?” Essentially that means everyone’s thinking is based on their perspective. So, whose perspective is correct and when is our definition of truth really reality? Allow me to provide a broader aperture regarding perception and reality. Contemplate these: one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter. Ukraine provoked Putin’s attack. God is the truth and the way. The 9/11 jihadists murdered thousands because it was God’s will.

It is doubtful that you agree with all these aforementioned phrases, but to some they each represents the truth.

As John Lennon said, “reality leaves a lot to the imagination.” Our individual cognitive map encompasses that which we believe and it defines our individual persona and governs our emotions and intellect. A smart person dumbed it down a bit for us with the line, “We are the product of our development.” In short, each person processes information differently and views life’s daily stimuli differently based on their resume’ of life experiences. We encounter millions of stimuli every day. Because of this, we can be influenced and we can in turn influence. We can also be deceived. Marketers and influence professionals know this and design audio and visual stimulation to influence our behavior. The commercial world directs us to purchase. The politician promises a better tomorrow. Dictators dabble with influence games at the national level for sustainment and promotion of power. Joseph Goebbels refined propaganda in the 1930s and ’40s and subsequent authoritarian regimes have modernized it over the years. Think Vladimir Putin for now.

In wartime, governments historically hide bad news and promote patriotic films that orient the masses on a singular azimuth. In the first months of World War II, the U.S. media deflected hysteria by shielding society from the news of German U-boat attacks along the Outer Banks. Meanwhile Hollywood cranked out films demonizing the enemy and promoting the home team. Winston Churchill once said, “Truth is so important it should always be guarded by a body of lies.” Sometimes our leaders decide our reality by incremental doses of the truth. Let’s do a quick case study of Russian influence on truth and reality.
Vladimir Putin is a learned disciple of the influence trade. Over the last two decades, he’s been at the cutting edge of modern influence operations. Many of the following terms were brought about under his watch. Look these terms up if you’re not familiar: hybrid warfare, little green men, the web brigades/aka Russia’s troll army, Russian bots, Putinbots, Kremlinbots, troll factory, Lakhta trolls and troll farms. Many of these are state-sponsored anonymous Internet political commentators and trolls linked to the Russian government. Spin control and misinformation are key ingredients of his daily operations. The term “fact checking” has essentially been worn out as a result of his misinformation campaigns. Putin is not limited by borders. His influence operations function around the clock at home and abroad. I’m sure you remember his meddling in the 2016 U.S. Presidential elections. He maintains influence operations against the Russian people at home and runs continual ‘Influence Operation campaigns’ against his Baltic and Ukrainian neighbors.

Locally, Russian TV (RTV) cranks non-stop propaganda demonizing the West and promoting nationalistic fervor while warehouses of media trolls seed misinformation and disinformation abroad. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have been embroiled in rhetoric regarding Russian election tampering for years. The lingering influence op played out in the 2016 elections was a Vladimir special. A sampling of the Russian population’s understanding of the conflict in Ukraine reveals perceptions totally alien to our own. We are all the product of what we see and hear. However, the majority of Russian people see and hear what Putin wants them to – and subsequently the majority march to his tune. Not all of them mind you – but most. Vladimir dissolved freedom of the press a while back in Russia, so the majority of Russians have limited means to pursue the truth.

The Western world enjoys free press. “Enjoys” may be a bit heavy depending on a person’s popularity. Once political preference is known – a person in the limelight may “enjoy” disproportionate attention in the media. The Russians are privy to State-run media while we in the U.S. have options. Some of us prefer conservative spin and others tune into liberal news channels. These stimuli shape our thinking.

Let’s frequency hop back to yesteryear again. Once upon a time during the infancy of television in America, we could watch news at 6 o’clock each evening on any TV channel we wished – as long as we tuned into ABC, NBC or CBS. Those three networks were our only choices for decades. Those programs and the advertisements that funded them helped comprise our American cognitive mapping. As an example, if you ask anyone over fifty who Walter Cronkite is they will likely remember and probably will remember his catch phrase, “And that’s the way it is.” Because that’s the way it was back then when we had few options. Those were the days when America named Cronkite, a news reporter, “the most trusted man in America.” Now, not so much as the news falls into polarized camps – further exacerbating our search for the truth.

Today our news is available anytime via multiple means but most of us are polarized to certain networks via the spin we find satisfying. The conservatives largely tune into FOX and the liberals champion MSNBC and CNN. Our cognitive mapping harkens us to one or the other. Our latitudes of acceptance and rejection are a part of this mapping. Given the polarization of news, who’s to say who’s right and wrong and who can really sanction reality and truth? How do we gauge truth as we navigate through life? Many of us channel surf multiple perspectives in hopes of piecing together truth somewhere along the way. Often times we arrive at our definition of truth by finding solace in others with the same perceptions.

Somebody said, “The truth will set you free.” That may be, but as I’ve outlined above, finding the truth is another matter. But the one truth I believe to be prevalent right now is that Ukraine has been attacked by a Vladimir Putin-led Russia, and while gas prices are going up here, the Russian economy and its people appear poised to suffer substantially from massive Western sanctions in the coming months.