“A great truth wants to be criticized not idolized” – Friedrich Nietzsche
In order for something to be recognized as significant and carrying weight, of a cultural relevance that seems to make it common knowledge, it needs to be added to the dictionary. ‘TMI’ was added to Merriam-Webster early in 2016, ‘meme’ in 2015 and ‘unfriend’ in 2009, along with a variety of other words like ‘selfie’, ‘networking’ and ‘emoji’ over the years. On November 8th, Oxford Dictionaries presciently proclaimed the word of the year as ‘post-truth’, defining the term as “‘relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.”
Yes, personal belief, those idealistic and sometimes unreasonable little narratives we tell ourselves that aren’t necessarily supposed to leave the bathroom mirror or our diary, and hopefully don’t follow us into a place where emotional tidal waves are better left behind. It goes without saying that our emotions have a huge implication on the way we live our lives, whether we decide to scream at our boss or kick a vehicle that nearly runs us over, but when they are the current that determines the flow of the river – for a subculture, a country or an entire continent – a dangerous precedent has been set.
Justine Leonhardt 