Universities must counter 'post-truths', warns academic

A South African journal editor has said that scientists and universities have a duty to face down ‘post-truths’ and ensure they have credibility, reports The Huffington Post SA.

Writing in the January/February edition of South African Journal of Science, editor-in-chief John Butler-Adam said: "For universities, and their academics, to counter post-truth they must have credibility, which makes the challenge a double one: to have trustworthiness, and to provide the hard data that call the lie to emotion-based beliefs."

When ‘post-truths’ are disseminated and asserted, they become widely accepted. "They also become the basis for action," said Butler-Adam, referring to the assertions that Iran had a vast store of weapons of mass destruction. "So, for example, Barack Obama is not a citizen of the US, the South African public protector does not have legal authority, or the president of South Sudan is a man innocent of war crimes," he said, calling these "clearly deniable assertions".
Full report on The Huffington Post SA site