Journalists and scientists complain that the public will believe any old conspiracy theory. This concern reaches panic levels if the internet and children are involved. Most of the people I know treat scare stories with a fair amount of cynicism, including those originating from journalists (who have to sell papers) and scientists (who have to get grants).
Are these experts worried about their waning level of authority? Are these warnings about such concerns as climate change, COVID etc… keeping us in line with scientific and media orthodoxies, and maintaining their authority? Many, including me, suspect that some of their pronouncements are more about power than knowledge. Although both are interlinked. Perhaps we are witnessing the end of the age of enlightenment where objective measurement and science trumped all other explanations.
What is a ‘post truth’ society’? What is a post truth? A lie? Are the promoters of this concept suggesting that there was once a golden age of ‘truth’? When does a truth become a post truth? When we disagree with something, does news become fake? Is the cynicism that greet scare stories part of the problem of the failure to act? If we no longer believe in anyone or anything, how do we decide what to do? Or do we follow our unexamined reactions, meaning that new directions are not followed? Does this mean we are doomed to respond to emergencies only when the stark realities of our existence intrude into our comfortable lives?
Walking whilst ill 