What Francis Bacon Knew About Fake News
Image by Gemini AI “Namaste, Bacon Bhai,” I greeted Francis Bacon in the prescribed patriotic way. I had requested for an interview with him on his 400-year-old essay ‘ Of Truth .’ The 400-Year-Old Blog Post: What Francis Bacon Knew About Fake News – That’s the sensational headline I visualised. Published in 1625, Bacon’s essay on truth explored why humans naturally resist absolute truth though adherence to truth remains essential for moral and social order. The essay opened with a famous biblical reference to Pontius Pilate’s question to Jesus: “What is truth?” said jesting Pilate, and would not stay for an answer . Bacon argued that people often avoided the truth , like Pilate, for three main reasons . Firstly, discovering truth requires hard work, critical thinking, and disciplined inquiry. Second: once a truth is accepted, it imposes certain boundaries on thought and behaviour. Finally, humans have a “corrupt love of the lie itself.” Falsehoods, exaggerations, and flattery o...
