How Lies Spread Like A Conflagration

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 4 October 2024 "A falsehood is a lie that is halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on." Jonathan Swift In his quote, Jonathan Swift humorously illustrates the rapid dissemination of falsehoods and the time it takes for truth to catch up in the face of misinformation. He cleverly compares falsehoods to lies, suggesting that deception, like a well-travelled lie, can travel swiftly and effortlessly across the world. By contrasting this with truth needing time to even put on its pants, Swift highlights the delayed nature of seeking and verifying facts. This quote underscores the challenging dynamics of the information age, where misinformation can be perpetuated quickly and widely, while the truth struggles to keep pace. Nowadays, almost everyone is on social media one way or the other. And we all have witnessed how fast lies and misinformation travel. Though there're fact checking agencies verifying the authenticity of innumerable dubious posts, by the time truth emerges, lies will have wreaked havoc because the human brain tends to believe in things that appeal to our lower and lowly instincts. Nothing fascinates the humans more than the lies, rumours and canards do. Lies are manifestations of sensationalism. Once a lie is out in a public domain, no amount of truth can mitigate its negative intensity and potential energy. The key person, who happens to be a Bengali-Hindu, of one Calcutta-based fact checking agency, recently stated on condition of anonymity that most of the viral posts on social media in which Muslims are shown as spitting on food or even urinating, are doctored. But the majority of Indians are still convinced that the Muslims deliberately desecrate food items by spitting on them. It has become quite easy to condemn a particular group of people by disseminating lies about them. Alas, facts and truths surface too late reminding us of Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib's famous couplet, 'Hum Ne Maana Ke Taghaful Na Karoge Lekin / Khaak Ho Jayenge Hum Tum Ko Khabar Hone Tak' (Granted, you'll not jilt / But by the time you'll be aware, life will have ceased to exist). ---- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://www.newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/lies-conflagration/d/133354 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism