Post-truth: when emotions matter more than facts
What post-truth is
Post-truth is, by the definition of the Oxford Dictionary, a condition in which people respond not to facts but to emotions. The term was introduced by the writer Ralph Keyes back in 2004 in his book “The Post-Truth Era”[1]. Importantly, post-truth is not an ordinary lie. It is a “cocktail” of truth and falsehood, interpretations and insinuations that exerts influence not through the force of arguments but through the force of feelings. That is why it is so hard to refute: it offers no verifiable statement that can be shown to be false.
A weapon of Russian propaganda
It is precisely on this mechanism that Russian propaganda is built. As Makliuk observes, the Russian side is “charged with emotion,” with ready-made phrases that are practically impossible to verify[2]. The substitution of emotions for facts is its key instrument: instead of an evidence-based discussion — indignation, fear, resentment, “us versus them.” This explains why specific refutations (such as those collected in this project) often meet not with counter-arguments but with emotional resistance.
Not just a feeling: the data
Post-truth is not a subjective impression. A 2021 study in the journal PNAS (“The rise and fall of rationality in language”), using computer analysis of large text corpora, showed that the share of rational concepts in language is declining relative to emotional ones, and that this process sharply accelerated after ~2007–2008 — and not only in fiction but also in scholarly literature[3]. In other words, the shift from facts to emotions is a measurable general trend, one that propagandists exploit.
What this means
Post-truth is the operating system of disinformation: a common mechanism underlying all the specific myths (about history, language, symbols, the war). Understanding it matters, because the antidote here lies not only in refuting individual fakes but in returning to the primacy of fact and critical thinking. As long as emotion matters more than fact, lies will go on “traveling the world dressed as truth.”
Related persons
- Olha Maklyuk — Historian, researcher of historical memory and media
References
- [1] summary
«Постправда» (post-truth) — не звичайна брехня, а обставини, за яких люди реагують не на факти, а на емоції (визначення Оксфордського словника). Термін увів письменник Ралф Кіз 2004 року («Ера постправди»). За суттю це «коктейль» правди й брехні, інтерпретацій та інсинуацій, що впливає не аргументами, а почуттями.
Back to text - [2] summary
Російська пропаганда побудована саме на цьому механізмі: вона «заряджена на емоції», на готові фрази, які практично неможливо перевірити. Підміна фактів емоціями — її ключовий інструмент.
Back to text - [3] summary
Феномен має й емпіричне підтвердження: дослідження 2021 року в PNAS («Зліт і падіння раціональності в мові») за допомогою комп'ютерного аналізу показало, що частка раціональних понять у мові знижується відносно емоційних, а різко цей процес прискорився після приблизно 2007–2008 років — причому не лише в художній, а й у науковій літературі.
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Sources
- book (2004) The Post-Truth Era: Dishonesty and Deception in Contemporary Life — St. Martin's Press The work that introduced the term 'post-truth' (St. Martin's Press, 2004; ISBN 978-0312306489). An independent basis for defining post-truth as deception that has become a way of life.