Truth

"You can't handle the truth!" Jack Nicholson, actor, A Few Good Men movie.

We live in an age when the word ‘truth’ has started to lose its meaning. Some question the existence of ‘truth’ or whether any truth that might exist can be known. While others cynically use the word for branding, such as right-wing social media sites that distort the facts. 

I believe that the assault on the idea of ‘truth’ is primarily the result of our postmodern or Late Capitalist era. Postmodernists tend to include the idea of ‘truth’ within metanarratives, which they tie to historical and social context rather than being absolute and universal. As postmodernism spread through society, the possibility of knowing what was ‘true’ became increasingly problematic.

Some say we’re leaving the postmodern era and moving into a new one called metamodern. Whether that’s true (yes, I recognize the irony of that comment) is up for debate. Many conversations about metamodern as a new era concern the likelihood of moving away from the postmodern refusal to consider the possibility of the truth of some metanarratives. 

Metamodernism, whatever that may be, could and should include exploring the possibility of truth and whether we can determine it, even if we disagree on what it is. 

(A special thank you to Dr. Angela Puca for her insights into this topic.)