As more time is being spent scrolling through social media than reading books, our ability to identify fiction and differentiate it from reality is waning.
It appears the only truth about social media is that it is not reflective of the whole truth.
As society sadly becomes accustomed to believing everything placed before it, we become forgetful about the nature of something which cannot be true, but is rather a mere reflection of reality on a cave wall – as Plato once said in Book X of his Republic.
The prevailing and pertinent questions are whether we are becoming more easily influenced or whether the truth is something we have given up trying to find – content which is obscene or obscured – similar to that seen by the characters in Plato’s famous simile of the Cave.
Distinguishing reality from fiction in an age with more conspiracy theories than when our ancestors believed the world was flat, has definitely become a challenge.
This is simply paradoxical, though, as our increasing dependence on science and data ought to determine, or at least ensure, the opposite.
Nevertheless, from a practical perspective, what does the above mean for us, living in a time of sensationalism?
Perhaps all it requires is for us to step back and use social media responsibly, with a duty of care. Whilst social media has enabled us to connect with people across the globe, the downside is undoubtedly the amount of bullying it has exposed young people to.
Variety is the spice of life and too much of a good thing becomes its opposite. Simply refer to Aristotle’s Golden Mean for clarification around excess and vice.
Have sensationalism and excess become lifestyle choices, though?
2,500 years ago, the Ancient Greeks invented tragedy to create pity and fear in their audience, with the view to making people less likely to repeat mistakes performed by the characters they watched. Perhaps they were millennia ahead of us in this regard, as we often appear to be replicating what we see before us, when for the most part, what we are watching is only a reflection of reality, yet we believe it to be true. Sometimes what is witnessed is pure slander, which is not a responsible use of free speech.
To provide another illustration, George Orwell is an excellent example of an author creating a deterrent through catharsis. Similarly, we would not wish to take his every word as being true and instead might seek to avoid that which he demonstrates very well to be dystopian. The dysfunctional picture he paints is based on fear, not a love for life.
Therefore, it is a shame that young people experience such great fear of how they are perceived online over and above trusting that by getting to know people in person, they will be liked for who they actually are. I have even seen adults experience the same.
So, in this world of illusion, how can we encourage society to step back and appreciate ordinary things such as social media, in healthy moderation?
I would suggest reading fiction to remind ourselves that a good story is only a good story.
Reading fiction is an effective way to re-emphasise to ourselves that there are such things as creativity, imagination and, instead of scrolling mindlessly through social media, simply picking up a good book.
They say that we are the sum of the five people with whom we spend the most time.
Equally, as Aristotle highlighted, ‘95 per cent of everything you do is a result of habit.’
