Disinformation spreads quickest on the Internet and social media where alternate “facts” are peddled by “truth” merchants who have access to empirical data that the established media, relevant experts, principle actors and the universal laws of mathematics do not. Thanks to confirmation bias, persons are likely to only listen to the “facts” that support their already held views. This is catastrophic for highly partisan communities, particularly during moments of crisis during which all hands are needed.
In a closely-knit society like Zambia’s, one of the most popular methods of sharing information is “He say, she say” – hearsay. This is problematic even for innocuous purposes. When I was a student at Mkushi Primary, a teacher once led my class in a game of what she called “Chinese Whispers.” We formed a large circle and a message was whispered to one student who then turned to her neighbour and repeated it in her ear. This series of whispers continued along the circle until the last child was prompted to report the message out loud. To great laughter and amusement, we heard words that were so transformed; they no longer resembled what many of us had heard. The lesson was powerful in its simplicity.
We cannot build a lasting peace on deception. It may be tempting to think of it as a short cut, but our ends will not be sustainable, as the last 56 years has shown us.
Human beings are capable of remarkable feats of reasoning when we put our minds to it. In the end, we all want what is best for our families and communities. We must use our trademark social ties for good. We must put the community – the entire community – first. We must demonstrate respect for the truth, whether it serves our purposes or meets our preferences or not, and act upon it.
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