Humanity today is on a beeline to hide and kill the truth. Today, both the men and women we see around us may not be carrying the truth about themselves.
Physically, socially, financially or otherwise, people have become objects of artifice as they have resorted to putting up physical and social appearances to fool everyone around them.
For example, today’s women have gone too far in concealing their truth in a very big way. The true woman— her true physical self—-now lies hidden beneath the mascara, the false nails, the false boobs, the false bums, false hair and sometimes even a false accent!
The truth is now under siege.
Foundation is construction lingo used by builders and constructors when they are building physical structures.
But the word ”foundation” in the women’s world of cosmetology and facial make-up means that our women have become “builders” of new human creations, only this time “built” or “constructed” in their own mortal images.
I have written elsewhere that the modern woman is viciously angry with the way God created her and has decided to play God by creating a new woman in her own image, bereft of the divinity and the sacred, immortal finesse of the Almighty.
The physical truth about most women is now hidden beneath the huge mounds of artifice euphemistically referred to as ”make up” which in some cases have inadvertently become unmitigated acts of ”make-down.”
Lest I am accused of gendered bigotry: today’s man too lies about himself, sometimes fooling a woman that he is moneyed when in fact he is just but a temple-mouse.
Even the physical truths of men with chronic illnesses now lie concealed beneath the passions of the gym and the uncanny habit of fitness and pumping iron.
The visible, so-called “six-pack” may in fact be concealing a grave ailment!
Welcome to the world of post-reality; a warped world where blatant lies are carefully packaged and dished out as the truth and where simulation is grossly displayed as reality
The “age of post-reality” describes a period at which our world stands today where the concept of objective truth is increasingly challenged and questioned, leading to a world where competing narratives and subjective experiences hold sway over verifiable facts.
This era is characterized by a decline in trust in people and institutions, a rise in misinformation, and a blurring of lines between reality and simulation.
Post-reality” refers to a situation where objective facts and verifiable truth are less influential in shaping public opinion than personal beliefs, emotions, and subjective experiences.
It suggests a decline in the value placed on objective truth and an increase in the influence of narratives, biases, and opinions.
This phenomenon is often associated with the spread of misinformation, disinformation, and “fake news,” where manipulative or emotionally charged content can be more persuasive than factual accuracy.
Even the truth about the human condition is also now under siege. And perhaps the most alarming news is that we are now living in a weird world where even the truth about one’s gender has strangely become a matter of personal choice.
The notion of transgender people obfuscates the truth as people in many countries are now allowed to decide whether they are men or women!
But since time immemorial, we had always known that one’s sex is a God-given biological truth at birth; never a matter of personal preference.
Only recently in the United Kingdom, the Supreme has had to rule that a person’s sex is defined by biology at birth.
The UK the Supreme Court ruled that the legal definition of “woman” within the Equality Act 2010 refers to biological sex, meaning a person assigned female at birth.
This means that transgender women, even those with a Gender Recognition Certificate, are not legally considered women under the Equality Act’s provisions related to sex discrimination.
It had to take a Supreme Court ruling for the British people to know the truth of what a woman is!
But it’s not just about sex and physicality—the truth about human behaviour and human conduct is now under siege too.
In the modern world of “skits” and “content creation”, there is now a very thin line between natural human behaviour and thespian conduct “acted” for social media likes and followers.
Only a few years back, people lived and behaved naturally and normally.Sincerity, honesty and truth were the core values in the lives lived by most people.
But now, even a hug from your sister may not be a genuine act of love. It could be a stunt for her phone camera as she strives to create ”content” that will later be “posted” for “likes” and “followers!”
Yes, simulation is now “posted” as truth in today’s world of make-believe.
Maybe Shakespeare was right: the world is indeed one big stage and we are all part of a gargantuan cast strutting its stuff on the dais!
Ladies and gentlemen: the truth is under siege.
Welcome to the modern world where lies are celebrated; where fiction is fact, where simulation is celebrated as the truth and where acted antics done for “content” are purveyed as reality and actuality in this age of post-reality.
Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to the capability of computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making.
In essence, AI aims to create machines that can think and act like humans, or even surpass them in certain areas.
AI can indeed be used for national progress and development but it has its negatives too in this age of post-reality.
While AI can be harnessed for the greater societal good, we have seen its negatives where AI-generated videos and images can pass for the truth.
Only recently, there was an attempt to scam people through an AI-generated fake interview involving my dear sister, prominent lawyer Advocate Fadzayi Mahere.
“Post-truth” has turned the world upside down in this age of robots and drones that can imitate and replace human beings.
Fuelled by emotive arguments rather than fact-checks, post-truth may indeed capture the gut-instinct and anti-establishment politics that swept Donald Trump and Brexit supporters to victory.
In politics, my own personal view is that Donald Trump is the human embodiment of post-realism or post-truth. He creates his own figments and boisterously spins them as the truth; as he recently did when he created his own “truth” about genocide against the Dutch people in South Africa.
All that was pure hogwash deliberately manicured and pedicured as the truth; but still that concocted falsehood had a whole administration in Washington going apoplectic.
This reminds me of the French monarchy on the eve of the French Revolution where one member of the royalty reportedly quipped “It is the truth, because the King says so.”
Perhaps post-realism in politics started then, when the truth became socially constructed to mean anything uttered by the King.
Indeed, governments too have caught up to this post-truth age. They now lie nakedly in broad daylight.
They can even sell you the falsehood of an upper-middle income economy by 2030 when, only five years before the realisation of that vision, their capital city is still battling tsikidzi (bed-bugs) and medieval diseases like cholera.
Only recently, in a country presumed to be an upper middle income economy by 2030, a recent visit by a parliamentary committee revealed that the country still has schools where children are attending lessons in farm halls and tobacco barns.
In the era of post-reality, corrupt goons like Wicknell Chivayo and Kudakwashe Tagwireyi are presented as philanthropists and credible businessmen of high probity. So too can an undisputed kakistocracy that steals from the people be conveniently clothed as a “new dispensation.”
Even the notion of “gospel truth” is now dead.
As a phrase, the term “gospel-truth” today stands mellowed and bastardised mainly by pastors, bishops and prophets themselves who are now leading in the crusade to place the truth under the guillotine.
Gospel peddlers are now on the forefront in lying to the people, giving them false hope and stealing from them, apart from abusing women and children. The men and women of the gospel have become prime leaders in assaulting and concealing the truth.
The truth is under siege. But when churches and governments become the leading masterminds of lies, who then will guard the truth in this age of post-reality, where everything is not what it seems?
The truth is in the graveyard while lies roam freely in our society today.
Only recently, social media doyen Mai Jeremaya, real name Ashley Masendeke, was in the courts, having dragged two men to face justice after accusing them of raping her, charges the court threw out.
But even after the court threw out the case, Mai Jeremaya still maintained her rape experience was real and was a traumatic ordeal for her. And some still sympathised with her concocted truth.
But now she has decided to re-live what she earlier claimed was a life-time traumatic experience that would be very difficult to forget.
She has decided to immortalise her so-called traumatic experience by turning it into a movie called “Pa Lodge” in which she stars as the main character!
But hold on, wasn’t the whole experience a fictional movie from the very outset?
Ladies and gentlemen, today’s world has conspired to kill the truth. The world has just become one big noisy lie! In fact, a cacophonous lie!
Welcome to the world of post-reality!
Luke Tamborinyoka is a citizen from Domboshava. By profession he is a journalist and a political scientist. You can interact with him through his Facebook page or via the X handle @ luke_tambo.
