(ThyBlackMan.com) This is the age of the false narrative. A false narrative is one in which a complete narrative pattern is perceived in a given situation, but it is not an actual narrative at work in the situation. It’s the attempt to give bits and pieces of an event or experience with the intent to deceive, and it happens every single day in our culture – from politics to personal relationships to business deals.
On a personal level, a false narrative is a story we carry around in our head.
A false narrative – personal or otherwise – is birthed either from insufficient or inaccurate information or an inaccurate assessment. We rarely bother with the details.
During Hurricane Harvey, for instance, a Twitter user rustles down to a mega-church, snaps photos of a driveway in the church that seems relatively free of flooding and posts the photos to their account. The photos go viral. Soon, a firestorm erupts. One share
leads to millions. The pastor of the church is accused of not wanting to open the doors to the disadvantaged, although it would later be determined that the inside of the church had indeed taken on water.
False narratives are propped up by political and civil discourses that often devolve into personal attack and demagoguery. It is also a time in which our own personal narratives gain more and more credence – even though they, too, are rooted in a type of delusion.
Corporately and personally, false narratives represent clear and present dangers for how we engage one another on a human level. Here are three such dangers of a false narrative.
One, it promotes individual bias.
Very few people attempt to engage in fair-minded and objective conversation these days. Most people are only interested in counter-pointing and refuse to oblige the areas where there may very well be some common ground. It’s what Richard Paul of the Foundation for Critical Thinking called ‘weak-sense critical thinking’.
M. Neil Browne, who teaches critical thinking at Bowling Green State University, says, “It is very common for someone to believe, ‘Those who disagree with me are biased, but I am not.’ It is one of the biggest obstacles to critical thinking.”
In the personal realm, this comes across basically as whom most want to be right and not be wrong. It has ruined many a relationship, it has soured too many business deals and in the end it leaves the practioner with few friends but multiple hurt.
Two, it devalues critical thinking
Not too long ago, the term ‘doubting Thomas’ was in wide circulation. It denoted a sense of skepticism regarding an alleged experience or event. You just couldn’t afford to take everything one said at face value. We need a resurgence of doubting Thomases! We need a dose of healthy skepticism both in personal and corporate discourse.
Fake news runs amok on social media because very few people stop and investigate the source. But guess what? Fake news also runs the gamut of our interpersonal relationships, too. We accept our own and other’s mythical version of who and what they are without subjecting it to a type of earnest evaluation.
Here’s the key: The first story one shares is usually a mythical interpretation. We’re human; we don’t like to make ourselves the villain.
Three, it ends up in character assassination
If a false narrative is a guided missile, its intended target is character assassination – whether it’s a candidate for President of the United States or pastor of a mega-church or simply in one’s personal network. Character assassination is the malicious and unjustified harming of a person’s good reputation.
In political campaigns, operatives are paid handsome salaries to dig up as much dirt on the opposing candidate as possible.
In co-parenting relationships, parents conduct smear campaigns to inspire hatred on the part of the child.
So much harm is intended for the other that the perpetrator of narrative never stops to gauge the harm inflicted upon themselves.
Corporately and personally, false narratives represent clear and present dangers for how we engage one another on a human level.
Staff Writer; W. Eric Croomes
This talented brother is a holistic lifestyle exercise expert and founder and executive coach of Infinite Strategies LLC, a multi-level coaching firm that develops and executes strategies for fitness training, youth achievement and lifestyle management. Eric is an author, fitness professional, holistic life coach and motivational speaker.
In October 2015, Eric released Life’s A Gym: Seven Fitness Principles to Get the Best of Both, which shows readers how to use exercise to attract a feeling of wellness, success and freedom (Infinite Strategies Coaching LLC, 2015) – http://www.infinitestrategiescoaching.com.
