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The Truth

Oral

The culture adjusts the truth to survive (Ong 45-46, 97). Studies show that in an oral economy of thought, information that does not help meet current objectives drops out of active memory, so remembered truth cannot be said to be objective, accurate, nor binding. Neither, sometimes, is current truth.

• From Canadian Native Americans
It is the habit of many Native Americans to say "yes" to everything they are asked to do. This leads to confusion as to when a Native American means "yes" and when he means "no."

Each year, there is a meeting of the Native Brotherhood of British Columbia. At the meeting in 1952, the question was brought up on the floor of the asssembly, "When does and Indian mean 'no'?"

An elderly tribesman with a bronzed and wrinkled face arose, and in a deep voice, stated, "It is plain when an Indian means 'no'. When Indian say 'yes' and do nothing, then Indian means 'no'. "

• From history
In 1945 at the Yalta Conference following WW II, Joseph Stalin agreed that the Eastern European countries under USSR control would hold free elections. All members of the United Nations signed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. Did elections happen? No.

Here's what Columbia sociology Professor Nisbet reports:

And what did Stalin think of his own Yalta promises to work for a new Rooseveltian world order, and to guarantee free elections in the eastern European nations that the Red Army had conquered on its way to Berlin? In early April 1945, less than two months after the signing of the Yalta agreements, a Yugoslav Communist delegation led by Tito was in Moscow. At a late-night banquet in their honor, Stalin ruminated on the postwar era. In his book, Conversations with Stalin, Milovan Djilas recounts that Stalin at one point explained, "This war is not as in the past; whoever occupies a territory also imposes on it his own social system." And as for the future, Stalin assured his guests, "The war shall soon be over. We shall recover in fifteen or twenty years, and then we'll have another go at it." See the Ebeling review of the Nisbet book here.

Literate

The literate culture feels a strong commitment to the need for factual accuracy and following words up with the necessary, relevant, and proportionate actions. (Ong 45-46).

Examples

• Looking for the truth about online stories
According to Reader's Digest, Snopes.com is "the Internet's preeminent resource for verifying and debunking rumors, ridiculous claims, and those e-mail chain letters your sister-in-law can't stop forwarding." See the story in the April, 2009 issue.

• Looking for the truth about information - College classes often assign research on various topics

• Confirming the truth about others - employers, single people, and volunteer organizations now regularly hire companies to do a background checks before making a decision.

When the truth is adjusted, it may be for fun

Exception: Strong emotions trigger a default back to the oral mode.

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