I have come to believe that human beings are easily misled by lies because we are inherently drawn to fantasy. The more outlandish a claim, the more appeal it seems to have. The more basic the fact, the harder it is to drum up any interest in it.

Does the truth lack merit, or just pizazz?

I try to take heart in the fact that this characteristic is in the minority of our population, but I begin to doubt it. There is a “fire the imagination” component to the way people think. Nothing else explains the improbability of popular television.

A fundamental goal would seem to be getting people to develop a taste for the truth, as well as the ability to know it when they encounter it — getting the madding crowd back down to earth.

Occasionally the truth and the fantastic collide in a happy coincidence — then the truth seems to get some real traction. Let’s hope something like that happens soon in our political sphere.

I enjoyed your post — very thought provoking, especially the bullet points for detecting the truth.