LIKE MANY others, I was born and raised in a culture that gave value to trustworthiness. I was made to believe that a pinky swear would always seal a promise, that a man’s word would always be his bond, and that a handshake would always settle a dispute. But now, in this post-truth era, how can integrity reign when being honest has become a value that is so rare nowadays?

The issues of fake news and misinformation have been around for quite some time. In retrospect, truth was a value that was significantly eroded in the time of the Great Depression as political propaganda was disseminated in such an unprecedented scale. And later on, it was through the media strategies of tyrannical overlords such as Hitler that further aggravated such. The same could be said for us Filipinos, particularly of the Marcos era. Erroneous notions, such as the label “Golden Age of the Philippines,” have historically revised facts about the brutal period of Martial Law.

Now, in a time where knowledge about the world around us is much more updated and dissemination of information is faster than it ever was before, how is this still possible?

There are several factors that have contributed to this issue. Factual relativism, as well as the regression of kinship brought about by the upsurge of the creation of political tribes, are just some of the many trends that have paved the way. In “On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century,” Timothy Snyder claims that because of factual relativism, we have become more inclined to view individuals who disagree with us as the “other.” Such a view makes us avoid discourse with what we perceive as the “other” because of the outlook that the ideology they espouse is not only wrong but harmful as well. However, it is the rise of the Internet that has made this post-truth era notably different.

Technology has made our era defined by total access to information. However, not all information presented online is as true as it seems. As such, the Internet, besides being a databank of knowledge, has also become a breeding ground for hoaxes. It has become a site of power in which many utilize in order to become their own publishers. The rise of the Internet has also become a site of choice. Our views on timely issues dictate what we are bound to believe and support in the long run. Furthermore, because of the influence of social media, people are able to choose channels that make them see what they want to see and hear what they want to hear. And by choosing a side, some of us even take another step further by sharing these things with their own respective spheres. Our want to support who or what we think is right, even if at times our gut feeling might say otherwise, has become the goal. Thus, not much thought is given on checking the facts.

I believe the best solution to combat these issues is character formation. The rise of this post-truth era is a call for us to further contest a widespread ethos that honesty does not matter. In order for the truth to be upheld, I believe that the first step is to place more emphasis on asking questions.

One of the main underlying problems today is that asking questions is often mistaken either for nosiness or having deficient knowledge. Because of this notion, we then become afraid of asking in fear of being belittled. As such, we end up depending solely on what we know. Or rather, what we think we know. It is human for us to want to be seen as competent or knowledgeable. However, this must not get in the way of the admission that we ourselves have our own limitations, that we do not know everything. And as such, we need to accept that in order to acquire knowledge, we must learn to ask and reach out to other people, may it be with family, friends, or even total strangers.

We all have our own beliefs. And in reality, no thought is absolute or perfect. By being able to ask questions and discuss with others, the more we are able to see other sides of the story. Partisanship is then reduced as discourse brings us together to reach common goals and reduces our inclination to form tribes. By allowing ourselves to be humble, we allow ourselves to listen to others’ perspectives and venture out of the filter bubbles we impose on ourselves.

Michaela Theresa L. Torres is a management junior at Ateneo de Manila University. She may be reached at michaela.torres@obf.ateneo.edu.