Addicted to Controversy - Modern Wisdom?

“I’m just asking questions,” has become the motto of today’s “alternative facts” or “controversial takes” pundit. While it is always a noble undertaking to attempt to reach the truth (whatever that truly means), it is another matter altogether to think that truth only exists in what is not agreed upon by society.

The pseudo pursuit of truth today is an unbelievably selfish affair. Pundits will espouse extremely controversial “alternate facts” simply because that is what will get them a larger following. Inevitably, these modern fact makers (for lack of a better term) always somehow come to deny the atrocities of the Holocaust. Now, I do not like to look at history in a vacuum - the 20th century was truly one of the bloodiest in history, but these fact makers for some reason rarely doubt Mao’s crimes. Only when the Jews are involved does there seem to be a need for alternative facts. Perhaps it is the beginning of an attempt to justify the idea that humanity was capable of such torment against its fellow. However, that is a subject for psychologists and sociologists.

I am interested in a more fundamental and philosophical question - why does seeking alternate facts seem to work? Why do so many people seem addicted to controversy? When thinking about this question, a verse from Amot (8:11) kept popping up in my mind, “A time is coming— declares the Sovereign G-D —when I will send a famine upon the land: not a hunger for bread or a thirst for water, but for hearing the words of G-D.” Usually when reading this verse, I imagine one thinks about the Messianic age - a time of pure bliss when only theology and ethics are what people hunger for. This being the case, one would surely expect that Amot would reassure the people that once they seek, they shall find. But this is not the case. The next verse says, “People shall wander from sea to sea and from north to east to seek the word of G-D, but they shall not find it.” What does Amot mean to tell us? I believe Amot is conveying a message very apropos for our times. In a generation such as ours that contains much information but little wisdom, people will search for that feeling one gets when information converges with life in such a way that it penetrates the soul - “the word of G-d.” This is what wisdom essentially is - the capacity of using the information one has at hand to better oneself and come closer to G-d. Of course, if true wisdom penetrates the soul, then a cheap knockoff such as alternate facts can garner a similar feeling. Rather than penetrating the soul however, alternate facts masquerade as wisdom and penetrate something far more superficial - our tendency to want the world to be as we wish. This tendency is one all of us share. This is why “people shall wander from sea to sea… but they shall not find it.” It is extremely difficult to see the world for how it truly is. The picture we have painted of our world is not only guided by experience and observation, but also heavily layered with genetic and environmental markers. The only hope we have of approaching reality is by using wisdom as our guide.

Alternate facts may seem like the exit of the informational maze we all share, whose true exit is wisdom. In reality however, alternative facts are simply another wrong turn, one that makes it all the more difficult to correct course. To seek wisdom, one must “learn from every person” while simultaneously acting as though “one knows nothing.” If the overwhelming evidence for a societal truth points to one conclusion, it should take more than an addiction to controversy to sway our opinion to differently.

I would like to thank my amazing wife for inspiring this article and for her constant support of my work.

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Dovidchai Abramchayev graduated with a BS in accounting from Lander College for Men. He is pursuing a CPA and works in the NFP audit industry. In his spare time, Abramchayev learns Torah, philosophy, and theology.