Syndetics cover image
Image from Syndetics

The death of truth : notes on falsehood in the age of Trump / Michiko Kakutani.

By: Material type: TextLanguage: English Publisher: New York : Tim Duggan Books, [2018]Copyright date: ©2018Edition: First editionDescription: 208 pages 20 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9780525574828
  • 0525574824
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 306.20973 23
Contents:
The decline and fall of reason -- The new culture wars -- "Moi" and the rise of subjectivity -- The vanishing of reality -- The co-opting of language -- Filters, silos, and tribes -- Attention deficit -- "The firehose of falsehood" : propaganda and fake news -- The Schadenfreude of the trolls.
Summary: We live in a time when the very idea of objective truth is mocked and discounted by the occupants of the White House. Discredited conspiracy theories and ideologies have resurfaced, proven science is once more up for debate, and Russian propaganda floods our screens. The wisdom of the crowd has usurped research and expertise, and we are each left clinging to the beliefs that best confirm our biases. How did truth become an endangered species in contemporary America? Former New York Times critic Michiko Kakutani takes a penetrating look at the cultural forces that contributed to this gathering storm. In social media and literature, television, academia, and politics, Kakutani identifies the trends -- originating on both the right and the left -- that have combined to elevate subjectivity over factuality, science, and common values. And she returns us to the words of the great critics of authoritarianism, writers like George Orwell and Hannah Arendt, whose work is newly and eerily relevant.
Fiction notes: Click to open in new window
Holdings
Cover image Item type Current library Home library Collection Shelving location Call number Materials specified Vol info URL Copy number Status Notes Date due Barcode Item holds Item hold queue priority Course reserves
Bok Orkanenbiblioteket 300-329 306.2 kak Available 3204216218
Total holds: 0

Includes bibliographical references (pages 175-208).

The decline and fall of reason -- The new culture wars -- "Moi" and the rise of subjectivity -- The vanishing of reality -- The co-opting of language -- Filters, silos, and tribes -- Attention deficit -- "The firehose of falsehood" : propaganda and fake news -- The Schadenfreude of the trolls.

We live in a time when the very idea of objective truth is mocked and discounted by the occupants of the White House. Discredited conspiracy theories and ideologies have resurfaced, proven science is once more up for debate, and Russian propaganda floods our screens. The wisdom of the crowd has usurped research and expertise, and we are each left clinging to the beliefs that best confirm our biases. How did truth become an endangered species in contemporary America? Former New York Times critic Michiko Kakutani takes a penetrating look at the cultural forces that contributed to this gathering storm. In social media and literature, television, academia, and politics, Kakutani identifies the trends -- originating on both the right and the left -- that have combined to elevate subjectivity over factuality, science, and common values. And she returns us to the words of the great critics of authoritarianism, writers like George Orwell and Hannah Arendt, whose work is newly and eerily relevant.