So that others may also discover the truth about an issue or topic, you can help others to find the truth about a topic or situation, and you can also help others to know how to search for truthful information.

Help others value the truth

For you to have spent the time to seek out and verify truthful information, you are likely someone who values the truth, at least about the topic for which you invested the time to find the truth. However, not everyone sees the value in investing time in the pursuit of truthful information. You can share the importance of finding truth by sharing your experience and the outcome. If it was frustrating when you couldn’t find truth but worth it when you continued the search and found truthful information about a topic, then share about that experience with others. If you are still in the middle of the search and have not found the information you are searching for yet, then share that with others. They may be inspired to join you on the search and may even help you find the truthful information you are personally looking for as well. To share about your process is to share about why you are investing time in searching for truth, and when others see that you value that, they may begin to see the value in it as well.

Example: Truth-seeking versus Reward-seeking 

One of the ways to learn to value truth is to ask what are you seeking? If you are primarily seeking to know the truth, you are likely to eventually find it. But if you are primarily seeking a “reward” such as people’s approval or a discount on merchandise, then you are more likely to fall for persuasion attempts. If someone is seeking to find the truth, the time-tested concept is that they will eventually find truth. But if someone is reward-seeking they may be more easily convinced or confused by a persuasive narrative, since it can tend to have a “sales pitch.” Ask yourself and others to honestly evaluate your intentions, “Are you truth seeking or reward seeking?”

Help others test information to find facts

Once you have gone through the process of searching for truthful information, testing facts and looking for a second set of facts to back it up, then you can encourage others to follow this process also. You can help others identify persuasion attempts so they can get beyond them to find the actual facts about a situation or issue of interest to them.

For example, in the early part of the Twentieth Century, when the journalism profession was diminishing in credibility due to compromised goals that allowed for false or misleading content at times, newspaper owner Joseph Pulitzer advocated for university programs to train journalists to be factually based and ethically search for truthful information in their story production. Pulitzer commented on the importance of journalism ethics during the lagging media trust in society at the beginning of the Twentieth Century: “Without high ethical ideals a newspaper not only is stripped of its splendid possibilities of public service, but may become a positive danger to the community” (1904, p. 667). 

Pulitzer contributed to the founding of Columbia University journalism school in 1912. He believed that ethics are of high importance in journalism, and business objectives can distract from the great public service journalism offers society. “A journalist is the lookout on the bridge of the ship of state. He notes the passing sail, the little things of interest that dot the horizon in fine weather. He reports the drifting castaway whom the ship can save. He peers through fog and storm to give warning of dangers ahead. He is not thinking of his wages, or of the profits of his owners. He is there to watch over the safety and the welfare of the people who trust him” (1904, p. 656).

Help others see opinions as viewpoint, not fact

It can be important tot remember that not everything in print or online is factual, even if it is produced by an organization. This is important to remind ourselves and others, so that as we read information online it is a continual evaluation of the content. Does there seem to be an objective other than reporting facts and truth? If so, try to see past the information to the potential that it is an attempt to persuade the audience towards a specific goal. If there is an abundance of ideas then individuals can decide what to believe, rather than attempting to persuade towards a particular perspective of thought.

Example: The Marketplace of Ideas

In 1859, John Stuart Mill wrote a document called “On Liberty” comparing marketplace competition to allowing many perspectives and ideas in free speech as a “Marketplace of Ideas.” This view of the information center is that when truth-seeking, level-headed people search for truthful information, they will eventually decipher what is true when presented with a variety of ideas to evaluate. This perspective of the information marketplace has stood the test of time as a valued approach to maintaining freedom of speech in the United States and has been referenced in many court cases as a foundation for avoiding censorship of information.

Although occasional human errors are inevitable, the marketplace can be kept in equilibrium when the opportunity exists for logical decision making by a truth-seeking public. In 1805 Thomas Jefferson said, “The press, confined to the truth, needs no other legal restraint; the public judgement will correct false reasonings and opinions on a full hearing of all parties” (Miller, 1989, p. 82). 

In a marketplace there are many options and each individual can choose which they think are the best options. Does this concept still work today? There is so much information online today, and since some of it conflicts it is difficult to know what to believe.

Can the truth be discovered by truth-seeking people in a Marketplace of Ideas today?

Help others dispute lies and avoid untruth

One of the best ways to avoid incorrect information and help others to do so is to identify the difference between what is sometimes called a “narrative” (persuasion goal) and truthful information. The differences can best be noted by asking is it true or does someone just want you to believe it? Even if someone wishes something had happened, if it did not happen exactly in the way they are telling about it then it is not true. Even if someone wishes that certain things were facts, if they are not actually facts in the way they are saying them, then it is not true or accurate. If someone wants to convince someone else to believe something that is not exactly true, if it is not truth then it is a false narrative or false facts.

See the following table for details on the difference:

TRUTH VERSUS NARRATIVE 

TRUTH = Facts 

TRUTH = What really happened 

TRUTH = Reality, even if it is not a desirable outcome 

Narrative = What people may wish were facts 

Narrative = What people may wish had happened 

Narrative = What people may want someone to believe 

Help others replace false facts with truthful information

Another way to help others avoid false information and seek truthful information is to gently point out inconsistencies of the “false facts” and to ask questions about what someone’s motivation for a persuasion attempt could possibly be. You could also bring actual facts to the conversation in order to challenge or refute the false facts. Once this information is pointed out in a way that avoids confrontation but allows for conversation, the other person can also begin to see the importance of conducting their own fact check about information. At that point, it would be a good opportunity to share your own experience in truth seeking and encourage them to continue to seek truthful information also.