Big lies are told by governments, politicians, and corporations to avoid responsibility, cast blame on the innocent, win elections, disguise intent, create chaos, and gain power and wealth.
We cannot achieve a healthy planet for all the world\'s people if we do not keep asking what is true..
The alternative to truth is a corrupt state in which the loudest voices and most seductive lies confer power and wealth on grifters and oligarchs.
A lack of caring what is true or false is the undoing of democracy.
Belief is a choice, Kurlansky writes, and honesty begins in each of us.
BIG LIES soars across history: alighting on the noble lies of Socrates and Plato
Nero blaming Christians for the burning of Rome; the great injustices of the Middle Ages; the big lies of Stalin and Hitler and their terrible consequences; the reckless lies of contemporary demagogues, which are amplified through Social media; lies against women and Jews are two examples in the long history of othering the vulnerable for personal gain; up to the equal-opportunity spotlight in America.
A scientific theory has to be testable, and so does an allegation.
In the book\'s final chapter, Kurlansky reveals ways to deconstruct an allegation.
The modern age has provided ever-more-effective ways of spreading lies, but it has also given us the scientific method, which is the most effective tool for finding what is true.
They destabilize the world.
They perpetuate injustices.
They prevent humanity From addressing critical challenges.
They corrupt public understanding and discourse, turn science upside down, and reinvent history.
Big lies are as old as civilization.
Big lies are told by governments, politicians, and corporations to avoid responsibility, cast blame on the innocent, win elections, disguise intent, create chaos, and gain power and wealth
