I just finished reading Nexus by Yuval Harari having previously read two of his previous brilliant books, Sapiens and Homo Deus. Harari writes about myths, some useful, some harmful. Three such myths are those of money, the nation state and religion. Myths are stories that exist only in people’s heads (religious people are welcome to disagree). Myths enable a large number of people to share the same values and work toward a common goal. Myths create order.
I have come to realize that we may look at what’s happening in the US and other places through the wrong lens. What some of us call an epistemological crisis may not be about epistemology at all. It is instead all about the construction of a new myth, a new religion, with president Trump as the myth-teller and the in-myth leader, and with his base as the believers.
The myth is about immigrants as criminals and rapists, the media as the enemy of the people, the unfair treatment of the US by most, if not all other countries, and about the US as the apex predator country that thanks to its military might can and has the right to invade countries like Denmark at will. The myth is compelling as it gives simple explanations and simple solutions for the suffering of the voters. The myths aligns with type 1 thinking—fast, intuitive, and emotional—rather than type 2 thinking, which is slower, more analytical, and cognitively demanding. This simplicity allows the narratives to spread quickly and stick in people’s minds. As I wrote in an earlier post, the Trump myth bears all of the hallmarks of fascism.
The purpose of Trumps communication is thus not to tell the truth. On the contrary he often employs a “firehose of falsehood” that erodes trust in truth altogether. In this vacuum, myths become more potent because they provide coherence where facts cannot.
Fact-checking Trumps statements is a meaningless endeavor. What he says has no relation to epistemology. What he says is not meant to convey truths but to create order and thereby secure a following. We should instead skip to trying to understand what he tries to accomplish with the lies; what kind of myth he is building and to what end.