Truthiness

WWF match--c'mon, really?
photo by Patrick Case on Pexels

Do you remember the “old” Steven Colbert? The pundit he played on his original late night show The Colbert Report was performed so flawlessly that many people thought he was like that IRL (an egocentric blowhard). I loved his ridiculous persona, and was frankly skeptical that he could segue into another late-night show, hosting this time as his genuine self. I shouldn’t have worried; Colbert made a smooth transition, and now I have trouble summoning memories of his former incarnation. 

One thing I do recall from Steven #1, was his oft-used phrase “truthiness.” Definition: a seemingly truthful quality that is claimed for something, not because of supporting facts or evidence but because of a feeling that it is true, or a desire for it to be true. A lot of his humor came from his purported embrace of nonsense that, he said, had to be true because—well, just because of his gut feeling. This criterion is often applied to ridiculous conspiracy theories, but I think it could also be applied to celebrity gossip (many a career has been derailed because of a salacious rumor that has just enough "truthiness" to catch on). 

 

Though Colbert switched comedic gears years ago, truthiness hasn’t gone anywhere. In fact, the whole idea of absolute truth has gotten ever murkier. Not that this is new. Didn’t Pontius Pilate ask Jesus “What is truth?” during his trial? But our founding fathers held life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness to be “self-evident” truths, and a decent number of colonists agreed (though “liberty” didn’t stretch quite far enough to reach our brothers and sisters of color).

 

I recently learned the name of a very popular kind of truthiness; kayfabe. Kayfabe is a hallmark of the WWF—you know, those seemingly ultra-violent wrestling battles that are, in reality, just audience-pleasing fakes (“kayfabe” is the word “fake” in pig latin😊). 99% of the viewing crowd knows, deep down, that it’s all phony-baloney, but they tacitly agree to a willing suspension of disbelief. The whole thing is truthiness on steroids (!), taken as true because it's more entertaining that way. 

 

Reality TV is full of kayfabe examples. Those Real Housewives aren’t really as vacuous and back-stabbing as they appear (at least I hope not!) Many years ago, The Apprentice presented a certain person as a brilliant, shrewd and successful business executive; this kayfabe convinced vast numbers of people. A recent book by the show’s producers described all the maneuvering they had to do, to make that lie seem to be true. 

 

So, what IS truth? On what can we agree, based on solid research and reasoning? Sometimes it’s dangerous to “trust our gut”—that feeling might actually be indigestion, and not insight. I know my truth will never be 100% yours; we see the world through different eyes. But I believe we can make much more progress in separating the wheat of accuracy, from the chaff of falsehood.

 

Here’s to more truth, friends, and less truthiness!