Part-truths vs. Post-truth

There is a large and meaningful difference between acknowledging that there are many parts to the truth (or many stories that are true) and saying there’s no such thing as truth anymore.

The history you learned in 7th grade was (probably) mostly factual, but it certainly wasn’t the whole truth.

The same is true of the history you learned in college or later.

As Norman Maclean wisely observed in A River Runs Through It, there’s a difference between telling true stories and telling stories that are true. He preferred the second, and so should we.

After all, stories that are true can accommodate more parts than any discrete collection of data points, or even many true stories.