TED2017
Michael Patrick Lynch: How to see past your own perspective and find truth
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The more we read and watch online, the harder it becomes to tell the difference between what's real and what's fake. It's as if we know more but understand less, says philosopher Michael Patrick Lynch. In this talk, he dares us to take active steps to burst our filter bubbles and participate in the common reality that actually underpins everything.
Michael Patrick Lynch - Philosopher
Michael Patrick Lynch examines truth, democracy, public discourse and the ethics of technology in the age of big data. Full bio
Michael Patrick Lynch examines truth, democracy, public discourse and the ethics of technology in the age of big data. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:12
So, imagine that you had
your smartphone miniaturized
your smartphone miniaturized
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and hooked up directly to your brain.
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If you had this sort of brain chip,
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you'd be able to upload
and download to the internet
and download to the internet
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at the speed of thought.
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Accessing social media or Wikipedia
would be a lot like --
would be a lot like --
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well, from the inside at least --
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like consulting your own memory.
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It would be as easy
and as intimate as thinking.
and as intimate as thinking.
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But would it make it easier
for you to know what's true?
for you to know what's true?
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Just because a way
of accessing information is faster
of accessing information is faster
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it doesn't mean it's more
reliable, of course,
reliable, of course,
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and it doesn't mean that we would all
interpret it the same way.
interpret it the same way.
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And it doesn't mean that you would be
any better at evaluating it.
any better at evaluating it.
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In fact, you might even be worse,
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because, you know, more data,
less time for evaluation.
less time for evaluation.
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Something like this is already
happening to us right now.
happening to us right now.
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We already carry a world of information
around in our pockets,
around in our pockets,
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but it seems as if the more information
we share and access online,
we share and access online,
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the more difficult it can be for us
to tell the difference
to tell the difference
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between what's real and what's fake.
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It's as if we know more
but understand less.
but understand less.
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Now, it's a feature
of modern life, I suppose,
of modern life, I suppose,
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that large swaths of the public
live in isolated information bubbles.
live in isolated information bubbles.
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We're polarized: not just over values,
but over the facts.
but over the facts.
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One reason for that is, the data
analytics that drive the internet
analytics that drive the internet
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get us not just more information,
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but more of the information that we want.
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Our online life is personalized;
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everything from the ads we read
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to the news that comes down
our Facebook feed
our Facebook feed
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is tailored to satisfy our preferences.
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And so while we get more information,
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a lot of that information ends up
reflecting ourselves
reflecting ourselves
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as much as it does reality.
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It ends up, I suppose,
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inflating our bubbles
rather than bursting them.
rather than bursting them.
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And so maybe it's no surprise
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that we're in a situation,
a paradoxical situation,
a paradoxical situation,
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of thinking that we know so much more,
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and yet not agreeing
on what it is we know.
on what it is we know.
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So how are we going to solve
this problem of knowledge polarization?
this problem of knowledge polarization?
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One obvious tactic is to try
to fix our technology,
to fix our technology,
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to redesign our digital platforms,
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so as to make them less
susceptible to polarization.
susceptible to polarization.
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And I'm happy to report
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that many smart people at Google
and Facebook are working on just that.
and Facebook are working on just that.
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And these projects are vital.
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I think that fixing technology
is obviously really important,
is obviously really important,
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but I don't think technology alone,
fixing it, is going to solve the problem
fixing it, is going to solve the problem
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of knowledge polarization.
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I don't think that because I don't think,
at the end of the day,
at the end of the day,
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it is a technological problem.
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I think it's a human problem,
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having to do with how we think
and what we value.
and what we value.
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In order to solve it, I think
we're going to need help.
we're going to need help.
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We're going to need help
from psychology and political science.
from psychology and political science.
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But we're also going to need help,
I think, from philosophy.
I think, from philosophy.
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Because to solve the problem
of knowledge polarization,
of knowledge polarization,
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we're going to need to reconnect
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with one fundamental, philosophical idea:
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that we live in a common reality.
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The idea of a common reality
is like, I suppose,
is like, I suppose,
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a lot of philosophical concepts:
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easy to state
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but mysteriously difficult
to put into practice.
to put into practice.
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To really accept it,
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I think we need to do three things,
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each of which is a challenge right now.
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First, we need to believe in truth.
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You might have noticed
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that our culture is having
something of a troubled relationship
something of a troubled relationship
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with that concept right now.
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It seems as if we disagree so much that,
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as one political commentator
put it not long ago,
put it not long ago,
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it's as if there are no facts anymore.
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But that thought is actually an expression
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of a sort of seductive line
of argument that's in the air.
of argument that's in the air.
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It goes like this:
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we just can't step outside
of our own perspectives;
of our own perspectives;
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we can't step outside of our biases.
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Every time we try,
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we just get more information
from our perspective.
from our perspective.
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So, this line of thought goes,
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we might as well admit
that objective truth is an illusion,
that objective truth is an illusion,
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or it doesn't matter,
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because either we'll never
know what it is,
know what it is,
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or it doesn't exist in the first place.
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That's not a new philosophical thought --
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skepticism about truth.
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During the end of the last century,
as some of you know,
as some of you know,
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it was very popular in certain
academic circles.
academic circles.
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But it really goes back all the way
to the Greek philosopher Protagoras,
to the Greek philosopher Protagoras,
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if not farther back.
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Protagoras said that objective
truth was an illusion
truth was an illusion
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because "man is the measure
of all things."
of all things."
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Man is the measure of all things.
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That can seem like a bracing bit
of realpolitik to people,
of realpolitik to people,
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or liberating,
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because it allows each of us
to discover or make our own truth.
to discover or make our own truth.
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But actually, I think it's a bit
of self-serving rationalization
of self-serving rationalization
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disguised as philosophy.
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It confuses the difficulty
of being certain
of being certain
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with the impossibility of truth.
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Look --
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of course it's difficult
to be certain about anything;
to be certain about anything;
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we might all be living in "The Matrix."
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You might have a brain chip in your head
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feeding you all the wrong information.
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But in practice, we do agree
on all sorts of facts.
on all sorts of facts.
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We agree that bullets can kill people.
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We agree that you can't flap
your arms and fly.
your arms and fly.
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We agree -- or we should --
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that there is an external reality
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and ignoring it can get you hurt.
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Nonetheless, skepticism
about truth can be tempting,
about truth can be tempting,
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because it allows us to rationalize
away our own biases.
away our own biases.
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When we do that, we're sort of like
the guy in the movie
the guy in the movie
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who knew he was living in "The Matrix"
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but decided he liked it there, anyway.
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After all, getting what you
want feels good.
want feels good.
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Being right all the time feels good.
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So, often it's easier for us
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to wrap ourselves in our cozy
information bubbles,
information bubbles,
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live in bad faith,
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and take those bubbles
as the measure of reality.
as the measure of reality.
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An example, I think, of how
this bad faith gets into our action
this bad faith gets into our action
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is our reaction
to the phenomenon of fake news.
to the phenomenon of fake news.
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The fake news that spread on the internet
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during the American
presidential election of 2016
presidential election of 2016
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was designed to feed into our biases,
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designed to inflate our bubbles.
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But what was really striking about it
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was not just that it fooled
so many people.
so many people.
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What was really striking to me
about fake news,
about fake news,
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the phenomenon,
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is how quickly it itself became
the subject of knowledge polarization;
the subject of knowledge polarization;
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so much so, that the very term --
the very term -- "fake news"
the very term -- "fake news"
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now just means: "news story I don't like."
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That's an example of the bad faith
towards the truth that I'm talking about.
towards the truth that I'm talking about.
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But the really, I think, dangerous thing
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about skepticism with regard to truth
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is that it leads to despotism.
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"Man is the measure of all things"
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inevitably becomes "The Man
is the measure of all things."
is the measure of all things."
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Just as "every man for himself"
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always seems to turn out to be
"only the strong survive."
"only the strong survive."
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At the end of Orwell's "1984,"
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the thought policeman O'Brien is torturing
the protagonist Winston Smith
the protagonist Winston Smith
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into believing two plus two equals five.
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What O'Brien says is the point,
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is that he wants to convince Smith
that whatever the party says is the truth,
that whatever the party says is the truth,
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and the truth is whatever the party says.
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And what O'Brien knows
is that once this thought is accepted,
is that once this thought is accepted,
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critical dissent is impossible.
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You can't speak truth to power
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if the power speaks truth by definition.
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I said that in order to accept
that we really live in a common reality,
that we really live in a common reality,
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we have to do three things.
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The first thing is to believe in truth.
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The second thing can be summed up
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by the Latin phrase that Kant took
as the motto for the Enlightenment:
as the motto for the Enlightenment:
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"Sapere aude,"
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or "dare to know."
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Or as Kant wants,
"to dare to know for yourself."
"to dare to know for yourself."
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I think in the early days of the internet,
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a lot of us thought
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that information technology
was always going to make it easier
was always going to make it easier
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for us to know for ourselves,
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and of course in many ways, it has.
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But as the internet has become
more and more a part of our lives,
more and more a part of our lives,
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our reliance on it, our use of it,
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has become often more passive.
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Much of what we know today we Google-know.
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We download prepackaged sets of facts
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and sort of shuffle them along
the assembly line of social media.
the assembly line of social media.
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Now, Google-knowing is useful
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precisely because it involves
a sort of intellectual outsourcing.
a sort of intellectual outsourcing.
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We offload our effort onto a network
of others and algorithms.
of others and algorithms.
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And that allows us, of course,
to not clutter our minds
to not clutter our minds
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with all sorts of facts.
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We can just download them
when we need them.
when we need them.
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And that's awesome.
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But there's a difference
between downloading a set of facts
between downloading a set of facts
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and really understanding how or why
those facts are as they are.
those facts are as they are.
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Understanding why
a particular disease spreads,
a particular disease spreads,
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or how a mathematical proof works,
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or why your friend is depressed,
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involves more than just downloading.
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It's going to require, most likely,
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doing some work for yourself:
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having a little creative insight;
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using your imagination;
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getting out into the field;
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doing the experiment;
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working through the proof;
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talking to someone.
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Now, I'm not saying, of course,
that we should stop Google-knowing.
that we should stop Google-knowing.
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I'm just saying
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we shouldn't overvalue it, either.
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We need to find ways of encouraging
forms of knowing that are more active,
forms of knowing that are more active,
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and don't always involve passing off
our effort into our bubble.
our effort into our bubble.
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Because the thing about Google-knowing
is that too often it ends up
is that too often it ends up
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being bubble-knowing.
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And bubble-knowing means
always being right.
always being right.
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But daring to know,
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daring to understand,
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means risking the possibility
that you could be wrong.
that you could be wrong.
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It means risking the possibility
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that what you want and what's true
are different things.
are different things.
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Which brings me to the third thing
that I think we need to do
that I think we need to do
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if we want to accept that we live
in a common reality.
in a common reality.
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That third thing is:
have a little humility.
have a little humility.
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By humility here, I mean
epistemic humility,
epistemic humility,
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which means, in a sense,
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knowing that you don't know it all.
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But it also means something
more than that.
more than that.
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It means seeing your worldview
as open to improvement
as open to improvement
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by the evidence and experience of others.
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Seeing your worldview
as open to improvement
as open to improvement
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by the evidence and experience of others.
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That's more than just
being open to change.
being open to change.
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It's more than just being open
to self-improvement.
to self-improvement.
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It means seeing your knowledge
as capable of enhancing
as capable of enhancing
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or being enriched
by what others contribute.
by what others contribute.
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That's part of what is involved
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in recognizing there's a common reality
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that you, too, are responsible to.
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I don't think it's much
of a stretch to say
of a stretch to say
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that our society is not particularly great
at enhancing or encouraging
at enhancing or encouraging
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that sort of humility.
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That's partly because,
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well, we tend to confuse
arrogance and confidence.
arrogance and confidence.
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And it's partly because, well, you know,
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arrogance is just easier.
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It's just easier to think of yourself
as knowing it all.
as knowing it all.
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It's just easier to think of yourself
as having it all figured out.
as having it all figured out.
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But that's another example
of the bad faith towards the truth
of the bad faith towards the truth
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that I've been talking about.
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So the concept of a common reality,
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like a lot of philosophical concepts,
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can seem so obvious,
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that we can look right past it
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and forget why it's important.
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Democracies can't function
if their citizens don't strive,
if their citizens don't strive,
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at least some of the time,
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to inhabit a common space,
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a space where they can pass
ideas back and forth
ideas back and forth
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when -- and especially when --
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they disagree.
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But you can't strive to inhabit that space
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if you don't already accept
that you live in the same reality.
that you live in the same reality.
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To accept that, we've got
to believe in truth,
to believe in truth,
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we've got to encourage
more active ways of knowing.
more active ways of knowing.
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And we've got to have the humility
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to realize that we're not
the measure of all things.
the measure of all things.
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We may yet one day realize the vision
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of having the internet in our brains.
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But if we want that to be liberating
and not terrifying,
and not terrifying,
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if we want it to expand our understanding
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and not just our passive knowing,
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we need to remember that our perspectives,
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as wondrous, as beautiful as they are,
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are just that --
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perspectives on one reality.
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Thank you.
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(Applause)
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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Michael Patrick Lynch - PhilosopherMichael Patrick Lynch examines truth, democracy, public discourse and the ethics of technology in the age of big data.
Why you should listen
What is truth and why does it matter? Does information technology help or hinder its pursuit? And how do we encourage more productive public discourse? These are some of the questions that animate Michael Lynch's work as a philosopher.
Lynch is a writer and professor of philosophy at the University of Connecticut, where he directs the Humanities Institute. His work concerns truth, democracy, public discourse and the ethics of technology. Lynch is the author or editor of seven books, including The Internet of Us: Knowing More and Understanding Less in the Age of Big Data, In Praise of Reason: Why Rationality Matters for Democracy, Truth as One and Many and the New York Times Sunday Book Review Editor’s pick, True to Life.
The recipient of the Medal for Research Excellence from the University of Connecticut’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, he is The Principal Investigator for Humility & Conviction in Public Life, a $7 million project aimed at understanding and encouraging meaningful public discourse funded by the John Templeton Foundation and the University of Connecticut. He's a frequent contributor to the New York Times "The Stone" blog.
Michael Patrick Lynch | Speaker | TED.com