Moving The Goalposts Of Truthfulness Dilutes Our National Principles and Values

When I was a teenager, I was afflicted with an ailment that affects many in that period of life. I thought I knew everything. So when my Dad would tell me something that was a verified fact, if I didn't like it, I'd tell him I didn't believe it. His response was so good that I've used it when responding to similar circumstances with our own kids. My Dad said, "It's like two plus two equals four. You don't have to believe that either, but it's still four." This page will center on that wisdom from my Dad. It will also serve as a follow up to our page about morality and ethics. Both traits are important as we discuss moving the goalposts of truthfulness.

We'll tie into the message from a couple other pages as we go through this column. The effects of the goalposts of truth being moved are impactful in every part of our life. This page initiated on the day after the mid-term elections, but it was on the board a couple weeks ago.

In the recently concluded election cycle, we all saw so many clear examples of truth being parsed out in small doses as part of much bigger lies, because every effective lie has a shard of truth to use as a "yeah but" by the spreader of the lie.

But since you're checking into this website, you must be someone who is aware of problems, but isn't content with just pointing them out. This page is for you.

In the vernacular of web pages, this one is a tier four page as it ties into that post about morality and ethics. You'll read how it could also line up with factoring in grace. 

The Fallout From Moving The Goalposts Of Truthfulness

Our editorial room consists of sports fans which explains the use of the football metaphor. Apologies to those checking in to this page who aren't football fans. But you'll get the idea of where this is going. If you read our page about tagging the triggers, you'll see where moving the goalposts of truthfulness comes into play and why we need to be aware of the fallout from such activity.

In it's simplest form, truth consists of verifiable facts. Real facts from proven events. Truth is real. No matter how loudly or how often someone shouts out opinions or inflammatory statements, the basis of truth in the same. Truth is factual and real. When the goalposts are moved, truth is diluted away from real and factual, as described in the following quote.

“For years, there has been an assault on truth, whether through the promotion of ‘alternative facts,’ the normalization of seemingly insignificant lies, the sharing of half-truths that mischaracterize reality, or the confounding of fact and opinion. The slow, methodical assault on truth poses a clear and present threat to society. It destabilizes systems, encumbers action, erodes trust, and hinders our ability to adjudicate markers of reality.”  Diana L. Burley, Ph.D.

Slow and methodical for sure, but also relentless and destructive. The symptoms, the examples are easily noticeable. At least the big ones, the most obvious, the dramatically egregious. But if we stop there we're falling in to the same trap. Addressing the outward symptoms without getting to the core issue is like greasing the track to allow a smooth pathway to moving the goalposts of truthfulness.

Unless someone has been living in the deepest wilderness, off the grid, away from any media source, the absence of trust in the media outlets is palpable. As Dr. Burley said, "the confounding of fact and opinion", the discounting of research into subject matter and the abdication of professional accountability has made most media sources merely mouthpieces for the agendas driving them. Walter Cronkite would be mortified to see where his profession has swerved.

"Slow and methodical for sure, but also relentless and destructive." That same suggestion about being off the grid applies when we look at how obviously moving the goalposts of truthfulness affects our national politics. But it goes into every part of our lives.

There's a creative word for a reliable phenomenon used effectively to deceive and distract from truth. It's called "paltering." Melissa Hogenboom writes an interesting column that describes the ways paltering is used in moving the goalposts of truth. Part of that article is in the callout box in the next section. You can read the entire story in this link.

"when individuals use lies to manipulate others or to purposely mislead that it is more worrying. And this happens more often than you might think...When Todd Rogers and his colleagues were looking at how often politicians dodge questions during debates they realised something else was going on. By stating another truthful fact, they could get out of answering a question. They could even imply something was truthful when it was not. Politicians do this all the time, says Rogers, a behavioural scientist at Harvard Kennedy School. He and colleagues therefore set out to understand more about it.

He found that paltering was an extremely common tactic of negotiation. Over half the 184 business executives in his study admitted to using the tactic. The research also found that the person doing the paltering believed it was more ethical than lying outright."

All of this paints a picture of the mechanism, but what do we do about it? Let's discuss that in the next section.

We Know The Problem. What Will We Do About It?

We all lie from time to time. Sometimes we do it to spare feelings. Sometimes it's more selfish. We lie to get something or to avoid something. That isn't what this page is about. When we've sunk to the level where moving the goalposts of truthfulness is accepted or at a bare minimum, tolerated, we're entering a dangerous territory. We're beginning a spiral where morality and ethics are bartered away in favor of power and influence, where accountability as citizens of America is discounted. This spiral if allowed to gain speed becomes a death spiral.

It seems to be too much to deal with, to high a hill to climb. It wears us out. That's where we need to tag the triggers and respond to those cues. The triggers that cause us distress and anxiety are really subtle wake up calls. Just below is an excerpt from our page about tagging the triggers.

"Our brains are fantastic gifts. But they can lead us down rabbit holes if we allow them the opportunity. Our brains are really good at shifting blame toward external forces. The person who ticks us off about something completely unrelated to any past pain shifts our focus back to that distant, but never forgotten hurt. "Well, that just wrecks my day!" Really? The whole day is wasted over one guy getting in the way? Tag the trigger and let it go by. Separate fact from fiction."

We recognize the problem, so now we do something about it. We begin by looking inward. Are we modeling the truthfulness we want to see in those media outlets we called out a few paragraphs back? Are we displaying a level of morality in our daily lives that we recognize as lacking in those politicians? Are we doing these things while coming from a place of factoring in grace, so we draw people to truth by invitation to a more honest, responsible place.

Another thing my Dad told me years ago was how to tackle big challenges. He didn't invent it. You've probably heard it before. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

The practice of moving the goalposts of truthfulness began because we were distracted by the noise. It continues for one reason. Because we allow it to continue. We give it power because we remain on the sidelines, hoping someone else will do the heavy lifting.

We wait until later to get involved in the solution. Guess what? It's later. It's time to get involved in the solution. Truth is by definition, real, verified facts. If we accept anything else, if we settle for moving the goalposts of truthfulness, if we slink into the shadows, truthfulness will become ancient history.

"It's like two plus two equals four. You don't have to believe that either, but it's still four."

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