One of the most useful sources for learning about Julius Caesar’s Gallic War is, of course, Julius Caesar’s Gallic War. But useful is not reliable: it is a work of publicity to exalt its author, dodge its enemies and gain the support of the commoners, it is a chronicle that intrigues with the truth.
Human history has been lied to a lot, the drug test has never come out clean. In 1274 BC both Hittites and Egyptians claimed to have won the Battle of Cadiz (note: there was no winner). Alexander the Great took Callisthenes, his personal historian, with him on the conquests and went so far as to declare himself the son of Zeus (note: he was the son of Philip). August created the image of Cleopatra we know: that of a manipulative, lovelorn and ambitious Elizabeth Taylor (note: she was an educated, polyglot and empowered Greek). This is the case incessantly: the Invincible Armada (notice the name), the Spanish Civil War or the second Iraq war have forcefully different versions according to the speaker.
In this, the Stalinists were Olympic medalists among fry. They proclaimed prosperity during famines, justice amid purges and historicism while erasing Trotsky and Kamenev from photos and encyclopedias. When a cosmonaut died in an accident, he did not communicate and therefore had not died; this was his cruel answer to the question “if a tree falls and no one hears it, does it make a noise?”. North Korea and others operate under the same scheme and Orwell novelized it all in 1948 with his 1984.
Democracies are not perfect and they also commit abuses. Proust observed how in 1914 the French victories were getting closer and closer to Paris. If one reads the British press of the Second World War one will know of battles that did not exist. Eighties television commercials tried to make this columnist believe that tobacco would make him sexier, soft drinks more popular and whiskey more elegant. But let’s not confuse the danger of a mouse with that of a lion, in a democracy there are checks and balances that allow us to identify and denounce lies.
Today it cannot be said that we are in the age of fake news, they have existed since the first shaman demanded groceries and women because that is what the spirits ordered. In the West, we are indeed faced with new technologies, algorithms and forms of communication, such as TikTok and YouTube, which drastically cheapen the editing of information. This has allowed new communicators to reach audiences directly and compete with more reliable and less entertaining publishers. They reach well-intentioned people who believe they have access to truthful information. This is Redbull for populists willing to break rules, sow confusion and create parallel realities. There have always been ufologists, crystal therapists, homeopaths, palmists and psychics who parasitize or commensalize, but now there are more tools to mobilize them.
The solution to manipulation and lying was already given to us by our ancestors during the Enlightenment and in creating democracy: avoid superstition, verify claims, use reliable and tested sources, listen to arguments, exalt knowledge, be open to scrutiny and learn from mistakes. We will not despair, many of us never believed that tobacco made us more handsome and democracies have overcome more difficult and bitter stages. Let’s hope that this time the human cost of going through this storm is not cruel.
