Can You Handle the Truth?

 Spitale, Samuel C.  How to Win the War on Truth: An Illustrated Guide to How Mistruths are

        Sold, Why They Stick, and How to Reclaim Reality.  Philadelphia: Quirk Books, 2022.  ISBN:   

       9781683693086

 

What is truth?  Is there and absolute Truth with a capital T or is all true relative based on how many people believe it?  Is there an organized assault on truth or is this just the result of a very frenzied "marketplace of ideas?"  Interested?  Read on!

 

Samuel Spitale is fervent in his belief that objective truth is under attack.  He has come to the conclusion that the United States and other countries have evolved into a post-truth nation where facts matter less than appeals to emotion and personal beliefs.  He is among the thinking majority that believe this is a dangerous state of being.  So he conceived of How to Win the War on Truth as a means of educating the reader on tools to recognize when they are being manipulated and how to fight back in eight chapters.   Chapter 1: Propagating the Faith delves into the history and process of propaganda, public relations and advertising.  Chapter 2: Cutting Out Complexity examines how a complex situation is reduced to a simple either or choice.  Chapter 3: Bias and the Brain sheds light on how the lenses we view the world are wired and how these lenses can be manipulated.  Chapter 4: Emotional Manipulation checks out how propaganda uses people's emotions to take action.  Chapter 5: Dividing and Conquering (An Audience) looks at the use of stereotypes to separate folks into "us vs them" groups.  Chapter 6: Power, Profit, and Propaganda slices into the use of propaganda by corporations to increase their influence and bottom line.  Chapter 7: Propaganda Techniques lays out the tools used in propaganda.  Chapter 8: The Southern Strategy provides a case study in the use of propaganda in the service of politics.  

 

Samuel Spitale in How to Win the War on Truth provides a passionate plea for readers to be media literate, not passive media consumers.  His point of view is clear to any discerning reader, but he does not ask for blind faith, rather he provides activities that allow the reader to participate in their own education.  If you have an interest in thinking about stories, politics, and/or life, take the time to carefully read this book!