UCSD - University of California - San Diego

03/03/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 03/03/2026 07:19

What Happens If Truth Is Lost

Published Date

March 03, 2026

Article Content

Key Takeaways

  • Truth has always been contested - what's new, says philosopher Gila Sher, is the erosion of respect for truth in everyday life.
  • Disinformation thrives because it offers psychological rewards: certainty, belonging, and relief from doubt.
  • Truth is a foundational human value, sustained only through individual responsibility and careful, critical inquiry.

Behind every breakthrough, there is a quest for truth. This desire is wired into humans - an insatiable curiosity about the world.

Questions about truth have perplexed philosophers for thousands of years, but many focus on distinguishing fact from fiction. Gila Sher, professor of philosophy at the University of California San Diego, takes it a step further by arguing truth is a crucial value that defines our humanity.

In her article, "The Post-Truth Crisis," recently published in the Australasian Philosophical Review, Sher delves into just how dynamic truth is. She describes it as a uniquely human value that acts as a social contract and contributes to our very survival. The article is being expanded into a new book, tentatively titled "Truth as a Human Value."

Following, we share five thought-provoking quotes from Sher that explore some of the deep impacts of truth, and what happens if it's lost.

"What distinguishes the current truth crisis from some of its predecessors is its ordinariness and universality."

Worries about the fate of truth are not new, says Sher. Truth has been tested throughout history by totalitarian regimes. It's been corrupted by plagiarists and counterfeits. And today, it's commonly manipulated by online trolls.

What is new, Sher posits, is the crumbling of respect for truth in our everyday lives. It's beyond the scope of the political arena or any one catastrophic event. Nor is it limited to a specific society or ideology. Divisive questions on topics like the future of our earth, the validity of scientific inquiry or the most effective means of government are now frequently answered based on the dominant narrative, rather than keen evaluation.

As a philosopher, Sher feels a moral obligation to investigate what would be lost in a post-truth world, a reality she perceives is a real possibility. "[There is a] danger of truth disappearing from our life, disappearing as a factor or as something that matters, not just here or there but everywhere; that is the heart of the crisis."

"I cannot choose to eliminate the force of gravity, and nothing can make me discard it. But I can choose to eliminate the values of truth and justice from my life…"

Why do we care about truth? This is a central question in Sher's research. Her answer: because truth is a central human value. And values serve as a kind of glue in our civilization. These principles are codified through religious documents, constitutions, systems of law, family teachings, philosophical theories and more.

While values are foundational, they can also be fragile, explains Sher. Adhering to truth is not automatic, it's a choice. "Values in general give rise to norms," she writes. "Norms stand at the intersection of freedom and friction. They are products of freedom but instruments of constraint."

Sometimes telling the truth is inconvenient or dangerous. Or it conflicts with other values - for instance, when contemplating whether to soften the truth about a terminal illness by prioritizing compassion. Together, our set of values compose our shared humanity.

"Truth and knowledge are interrelated - our desire to know the world is related to our desire to find out the truth about it, and vice versa…"

The pursuit of truth is a core desire for humanity, describes Sher. How do we expand our knowledge? One way is by coherence - coming to collective agreement on a particular idea or belief. However, this model can be problematic if the belief is based on a lie. Sher explains disinformation can be attractive because it can make us more confident, inspire belonging and ease anxiety about uncertainty.

Sher believes the more effective way to arrive at truth is through correspondence - not naïve correspondence (as in "a true theory is a copy of reality"), but "enlightened" correspondence, one that takes into account both the complexities of the world and the complexities of human cognition. This model relies on objective exploration of the world, direct or indirect, critical, yet robust correspondence with reality all the same. "Human beings aim to know the world as it is," says Sher. "Not just what is practically useful, not as we imagine it or want it to be or how someone tells us it is."

This search for truth is never ending. Sher points out that human cognition is limited, and it is because of the gap between our goal of knowing the world as it is and our proneness to error that we need a value and norms of truth. "True knowledge has instrumental importance for humans; it is essential for their survival and flourishing, and to achieve the instrumental benefits of truth, humans have to cooperate, to play an active role in acquiring true knowledge and share it with others," she says. But that's not all. One of the things that distinguish us as humans is the value we assign to knowledge of the world for its own sake, not just for practical advantage, but also for theoretical understanding.

"Sometimes, finding out how things actually are, and telling the truth about it, takes considerable courage."

In order to survive, humans need to know the truth about the world. A simple example Sher gives is the importance of knowing that a certain mushroom is poisonous so that you don't eat it. However, the decision to pursue the human value of truth, or any other human value, is not always easy. Perhaps you see a child drowning in the ocean, and you're not a very good swimmer. But you risk your life to save the child because it's the right thing to do.

Sher explains that the truth can be dangerous. "Still, commitment to truth means that we have an obligation to tell, and search for, the truth in the face of danger," she says.

The choice is often a moral one. Being honest with yourself is a kind of personal dignity, while being truthful to others is a form of respect. "If you lie to someone, you disrespect them," states Sher. "You prevent them from knowing how things are in order to exploit their ignorance."

"What we lose in a post-truth world…is the ability to live a worthy life. And in this sense, we lose our humanity."

The notion of truth can be vague, and it's difficult to settle on a single definition. It's a tantalizing yet confounding topic that has occupied philosophers for thousands of years. Recently some philosophers have whittled down truth to a mere technical device - for instance, instead of asserting all the principles of relativity theory (which you may not be able to do), you may simply say that relativity theory is true. But Sher insists that this is only a very small part of the story.

If we are indeed in the midst of a post-truth world, what's at stake goes beyond the measure of truth, it extends into the very nature of our integrity. "We lose a value that captures our humanity, what is most special about us as human beings," says Sher. "Our freedom to choose our values complicates our life, but it also gives significance to our life."

Is there any recourse? Sher explains that critical evaluation of ideas is vitally important to arriving at objective truth. To make and correct errors, progress from ignorance to discovery and make 'all things considered' decisions based on our priorities and needs, we need genuine investigation rather than mere narrative. "It is essential that we be truthful, that we pursue truth in inquiry, that we regard truth as a value that is constitutive of our humanity," said Sher.

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