 |
| Gettyimagesbank |
By Scott Shepherd
 |
Raleigh does not claim to have seen these peculiar people; he's repeating the claims that others had made. I hope this doesn't come as too much of a surprise, but these claims of a headless race wandering around the New World were, in fact, false.
Fast forward to the 21st century, and plenty of outlandish claims are still doing the rounds. Only this month, former U.S. President Barack Obama discussed the problem of "what some have called truth decay." Pun aside, I'm not sure many would dispute the suggestion that modern public discourse has a serious problem with whatever you want to call it: lies, fake news, disinformation and so on. Obama suggests that his successor Donald Trump is part of the problem, but as Obama himself argues, it clearly did not start with Trump, nor will it end when he leaves the White House next year.
Of course, you can hardly pretend the outgoing president is a paragon of honesty, no matter how ardently you support him; but I'm not particularly interested in Trump-bashing ― plenty of others will continue to do that. Rather than the mendacity of any specific politician, what really worries me is the apparent ease with which obvious falsehoods seem to spread online.
And this is where Raleigh fits in. Back in the 16th century, Raleigh seemed to struggle with the account of the fantastical chest-faced men. He acknowledges that "it may be thought a mere fable" and suggests that in any case, it's not very important. He does finally conclude, however, that they must exist because "so many people" attested to their existence.
Yet, given Raleigh's doubt, and the lack of any concrete evidence, the onus was clearly on him not to publish such an outlandish claim. So why did he? We can never know for sure, of course, but it seems that he felt the benefits of publishing this salacious account outweighed any potential harm to his reputation. It was exciting, unbelievable, juicy gossip; it fit with his view of the world, and these were reasons enough for him.
I may be wrong about his motives, but that certainly is how it reads to me. Moreover, it also feels like plenty of people today take the "Raleigh approach": they hear some ridiculous claim, and, since it chimes with their beliefs, they suppress any inkling that it's false and freely share it online. This wider public attitude is a big problem, much worse than any single politician's lies.
The truth matters. In itself it is intrinsically valuable, and we've seen over and over the price we pay for the collective dishonesty of humanity, for our willingness to believe and propagate unsubstantiated claims.
Of the many examples that come to mind ― one of the most frustrating ― is a case from earlier this year where churchgoers had salt water sprayed in their mouths in an attempt to protect them from COVID-19, inadvertently spreading the very virus they were trying to prevent.
Or take the even more disturbing cases in India where lies spread on WhatsApp led to the violent lynching of at least 17 people. These are awful, unnecessary deaths, and they are caused by lies.
The list goes on and on. Who spread these rumors? Who believed them? How many lives felt the impact of these lies? We'll never be able measure the full scale of all the many tragedies, of all the lives ruined by lies.
I'm sure there are plenty reading this who are discerning and critical, who react suspiciously to dodgy claims. However, there are also some who are a little too hasty to share a suspicious "fact," and it is to you I write now. If you doubt the veracity of a factual claim that you've heard or seen, please don't repeat it, otherwise you're just being someone else's pawn. Be less willing to believe what people tell you, particularly when it makes you angry or changes the way you act or vote or spend your money. Please, stop spreading unfounded gossip and rumor, even if it's for a cause that you believe in.
Evidence is important. Next time you see an article from an obscure website, take a few seconds to think: what are the writer's motivations? Does this claim seem sensible? Does it fuel my hatred or fear? And most importantly: is there any compelling evidence that this is true?
Any person who sees an obviously suspect claim but shares it regardless is contributing to this problem. We simply cannot choose the facts we wish were true. The most shocking items on our feed may be the most exciting, and it's natural to want to share them, but if we see an unsubstantiated claim, we should ― must ― treat it with a pinch of salt.
There were no people with their faces on their chests roaming the shores of South America. There was not widespread election fraud in the U.S. There is no secret cabal of nefarious ne'er-do-wells controlling the world order, and the pandemic isn't fake. Raleigh should have known better than to spread such obvious lies, and even if he didn't, we do.
Dr. Scott Shepherd is a British-American academic. He has taught in universities in the U.K. and Korea, and is currently Assistant Professor of English at Chongshin University, Seoul. The views expressed in the article are the author's own and do not reflect the editorial direction of The Korea Times.
