A Lie by Any Other Name

Lies of many varieties in vogue

For the 2022 Word of the Year, dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster appropriately selected a word that had something to do with lying. The word generated a 1,740 percent increase in searches over the past year compared to the previous year. What was the word? 

Gaslighting

The winner was gaslighting. It’s defined as “the act or practice of grossly misleading someone, especially for one’s own advantage,” according to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary. The term is applicable to much of what we see in the mainstream media and supposed news reporting these days. A prime example is “The 1619 Project” published by the New York Times.

One could say the woke cultural revolution is a gaslighting scheme of enormous consequences to this nation. Professor of philosophy Peter Boghossian provided the following candid description of woke identity politics in his “Beyond Woke” Substack this week: “This is a mass delusion. There is simply no evidence for these things. These are propositions that are untethered to reality.” In other words, activists have been gaslighting the American public—to promote and spread their ideology and create more activists—and the result has been a socially contagious mass delusion.

Besides gaslighting, several other terms are in vogue to describe that which is untrue or inaccurate or intended to mislead or deceive.

Misinformation

Misinformation is wrong, false or inaccurate information. It may or may not have an intent to mislead.

Example: An email announcement states that a webinar will occur on Thursday, January 6. Since January 6 is on a Friday, not a Thursday, one of the two pieces of information is incorrect. The incorrect information is misinformation.

Disinformation

Disinformation is wrong or false information that is deliberately intended to mislead. It is intentional misinformation.

Example: Activists say that we have “systemic racism” in this country. (Fact: Racial discrimination in the U.S. is at the lowest point in world history.)

Example: Activists say law enforcement criminalizes law breakers and criminals. (Fact: People become criminals when they break the law. Law enforcement does not turn them into criminals, but it does hold them accountable and brings them to justice for crimes they have committed against the victims of crime.

False Narratives

A false narrative is an untruthful or erroneous explanation of real events or issues. The intent is usually to manipulate and deceive.

Example: The 2020 riots were “mostly peaceful protests.” (Fact: Widespread incidents of violence, looting and arson were a pervasive part of the riots that raged nationwide.)

For more “Additions to the List of False Narratives,” see my Wall Street Journal Letter to the Editor here.

The simple step of a courageous individual is not to take part in the lie. —Nobel Prize winner in literature, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn