In case you hadn't noticed, we are at war.
A war without bullets, borders, tanks or bombs. But it's battles unfold almost constantly in front of your eyes.
It's a war of information; stories, opinions, narratives, and facts, a war to establish "truth".
You were conscripted into this war without your knowledge or consent, but you signed up, filled out your profile, and agreed to the terms (probably without reading them)
The battlegrounds aren't mountains or plains or oceans, they're websites, forums, televisions and cell phones. You spend hours a day inside this war in front of you, in the background, and in the palm of your hand.
In this asymmetrical war of information, you are at all times a civilian, a soldier, a target and an objective. There are soldiers on both sides working 24/7 to conscript, train, and win you over.
In this war for truth, words are weaponized. Words like "misinformation", "conspiracy", "baseless", "debunked", "fact-check", and all are assaults on the nature of truth itself.
There are 2 possible outcomes to this war.
In one, truth is centralized. It's decided upon by an elite few who silence dissent. This can be overt by deplatforming, deleting, shadowbanning and stealth editing. Or it can be covert by mocking, gaslighting, and manipulating. In this future, truth doesn't need to be audited or proven, just repeated. If a truth is undesirable to the deciders, it can be buried.
In the other future, truth is decentralized. It's decided upon by a measured consensus of minds testing, verifying, auditing and debating. If a truth can't be proven, it's soundly rejected by the majority. If it stands up to scrutiny, it's shared, despite it's inconvenience or social consequences.
Everytime you assert or share a truth, you're choosing and supporting a side of this war. You're creating one of these possible outcomes. Before 2020, this was a cold war. Now, it's gone hot.
Like all wars, the consequences aren't just for the present generation, but the generation to come. Every day you help or hurt a side of this war, simply by exercising your discernment.
Welcome to the war, it's almost over, choose your sides carefully, and see you on the battlefield.
Thoughts? Edits? Additions/subtractions? Would love the communities help before sharing this manifesto wide.
Thank you for your thoughtful and insightful post.
Guess which side I'm on.
I still say TRUTH is everlasting and immutable.
Very well put. Everyone chooses a side with every action and utterance today.
You know what's beautiful about decentralized truth (aka objective truth) - it resonates. Both in literal and figurative terms.
The best analogy I've come to (besides the obvious, math) is music. Humans at a certain innate level can detect true notes versus sharp or flat, but of course, a trained ear is much more adept at finding and using the truth.
"Truth is a force of nature".
In this war you are forced to choose between nature and man-made chaos. It should be an easy choice, but we can never underestimate the destructive power in the lies.
Love this. Can I use some of this language in the rewrite?
I hope you would.
Graphics speak a lot of unspoken words. I think it's perfect honestly. Maybe some epic backgrounds with the words on top of it?
Ooh anyone want to convert to beautiful algo-beating cursive?
Well said fren... we are in the middle of WW3... those who are not prepared die first... so please prepare
Well put. I cannot think of anything to add. The clear delineation of the opposing sides and their ramifications is the most effective part. I really do believe this needs to be shared in the wild. This should wake up some normies.😴🥱😳😠 Now lets put into a meme and spread
Add: “We’ve been in this war for decades, but it really went hot when Trump announced back in ‘15. There was a thought of a military coup when oblamer cheated and won his reelection. However, better planning brought the Trump variant into play.”