Knowledge is under siege. So much so that our era has been referred to as “Post-Truth.” Misinformation, disinformation, even “de-information” are rampant in our social institutions, especially social media. As technology has not only enabled their spread like never before, it has also enabled such falsehoods to appear more convincing than ever before. So much so, “Who knows what to believe?” The manipulation of “truth,” and of “reality,” or our perceptions of it, is perhaps the “oldest trick in the book,” when it comes to influencing and even controlling the so-called “masses.” According to the Pew Research Center, 39% of adults under 30 reported regularly getting their news from TikTok and social influencers such as Joe Rogan are more popular than many “traditional” news outlets. He has over 18.9 million followers on Instagram alone. As conspiracy theories, fake news, AI Slop and other material gets spread across our digital landscapes, there are real consequences whether or not the information is real or accurate.  Sometimes such material is deliberately spread by foreign adversaries or other agents who stand to gain from the misinformation. For example, some of the organizations spreading misinformation about vaccines were also selling alternative treatments, usually under a different name. 

In this class, we will ask (and attempt to answer) questions such as, what is the “real,” and what is “truth?” We’ll use Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” as well as The Matrix as our metaphorical entry points to raise various epistemological and ethical questions regarding knowledge and its circulation. The class will ask each of us what is our individual responsibility regarding consuming and spreading—even countering—such information? Using both historical and present-day examples, we’ll ask ourselves what’s so dangerous about the truth, and why is it often covered up or manipulated? Other considerations include what counts as knowledge and how has it gets produced and transmitted? What institutions are involved in the production and dissemination of knowledge? And what is the relationship between knowledge and power? Throughout the semester students will engage in research projects that investigate modern day examples of informational distortion and are given the opportunity to “set the record straight.”