when you hear "facts," think "trusted third party"
This fall I published 3 guest articles on Ribbonfarm about the philosophy behind Ideamarket.
The first questions the usefulness of “facts” as society’s default unit of truth: https://www.ribbonfarm.com/2020/09/03/wittgensteins-revenge/
Crypto fans will note that “facts” always require trust in a third party.
The argument goes like this:
Facts don’t exist.
Don’t get me wrong — truth exists.
But facts are a convention of language, a shorthand for “thing it’s safe to believe without further question.”
Creating “facts” requires deciding which information is important to include.
And if you don’t trust the person making those decisions, it’s not your fault, and you’re not a “science denier,” “conspiracy theorist,” or whatever else they call you.
In other words:
You see, most approaches to solving the Credibility Crisis assume “facts lead to trust.” They say “get the facts, then determine who’s wrong, then censor them.”
But Ideamarket flips this on its head — facts require trust.
Trust must come first, or what we call “facts” others will call “claims,” and the debate will continue forever.
Ideamarket allows the public to establish Trust without relying on a centralized third party — like a media corporation, a government, or the World Health Organization — to tell you who to trust.
Read that article here: https://www.ribbonfarm.com/2020/09/03/wittgensteins-revenge/