Something Understood – about truth, radio 4 broadcast on Sun 28 May 2017 10:30pm UK

listened to “something understood” about truth in a world of post-truth and alternative facts, by mark tully on radio 4 with extracts from
Joseph Goebbels – tailor their manufactured truths to different sets of people, different truths and interestingly facebook follows this in allowing parties to target specific voters:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/12/the-guardian-view-on-online-politics-bring-the-ads-into-the-light

William Kingdon Clifford – extending john milton’s proposition in his “Areopagitica” contends that “it is wrong always everywhere and for anyone to believe anything on insufficient evidence”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Milton
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Kingdon_Clifford

Howard Jacobson – the less we believe, the better we are, lambasts facebook and trump about an age even of bare-faced lying and we know they are lying
no longer a matter of whether truth prevail, can their will prevail
“absolute believer in sceptism – the less you believe, the less you trust, the better you are”
people are getting worryingly swayed by heresay and rumour, rather than widely-reading factual accounts and taking a view from it
truth in art – dr johnson, writing an article about truth, fiction and allegory (before the romantics), people believing nonsense, truth goes to the dogs, falsehood is far more attractive – for truth to be attractive, it has to appeal more than falsehood – truth can seem austere and no fun
little by little, reason will then enter
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Johnson

John Dunne talking about religious truth but valid here, although contradicting dr johnson a little with the the quote:
“on a huge hill cragged and steep truth stands and he that will reach it about must and about must go”
description of the unrelenting nature of what a reasoned mind should do to find truth
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Donne

Emily Dickinson – truth should not be told outright, but gradually in her poem “tell all the truth, but tell it slant”
“the truth must dazzle gradually or every man be blind”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emily_Dickinson

Stephen Grain – sees it also as a path to be taken, difficult to pass with thickly grown weeds and not often trod, can easily give up and take easier paths!

Mahatma Gandhi,in his auto-biography “my experiments with truth”, to search for it selflessly and with single-minded devotion

Vangelis – west across the ocean sea, from 1492 (Conquest of Paradise)