Truth or Consequences

Overview. Years ago, there was a popular quiz show on TV called “Truth or Consequences”, it was so popular that a small town in New Mexico changed its name to that of the TV show to attract tourists. Back then, I guess there were actual consequences to not telling the truth. We are referring only to truth in the world of adults. That is not little white lies like telling a 5-year-old in Christmas that that if they are good Santa will have very nice gifts. Today it seems like many people cannot tell the truth from mendacity which is the different between benefiting or not if the benefiting from truth or not. Does veracity in itself an important value and are consequences of not doing so. as valuable in itself and doing what is morally right regardless of its ramifications. Is the truth fungible and there is no right or wrong? Are facts absolute or only solely if the eye of the beholder? Is one entitled to their own set of facts and one can bend the truth so that is appears to be factual? Can one lie so we’ll; that it figuratively becomes part becomes part of the DNA and even they after a while don’t know the difference? Unfortunately, this has become the norm, that even the person telling a lie, doesn’t even recognize it as such? We see this in a very pronounced way following the Presidential election, and the consequences for winning or losing are historic, as to as what form of government we will have doctrinaire, libertarian or somewhere in between.

?But in the real world and dealing with adults, allies, friends, and institutions, where misrepresentation, espionage, lying, stealing can lead to very bad consequences. When this is between friends is normally patched up. But were this with an adversary, it may escalate into a war. We are seeing this in the Middle East and Eastern Europe. This may escalate where superpowers are involved as they are now with superpowers in two situations. Sometimes a true disaster ensues when brinksmanship and calling one’s bluff, are ratcheted up too far and a real confrontation ensues. and could end up where no one wanted but could very well happen.

?When politics are involved, like during the election season we are in now, the consequences may cause one of the partiers to get into deep waters as they first need to be elected before they would face the adversary. When one of the principals is supported by voters who have limited information on strategic international issues they may influence their candidate to take risk or not well thought out positions. But make their choice on superficial things, like who has the best personality or are influenced by fake news. Sometimes issues things and in some cases, there is no good decision, on less only less hazardous ones (this concept is dealt with in the best seller “The Three Body Problem”) ?

?Fake news is now with us, and just as deep fake images and videos one has to be real vs, what is not is very difficult. What is “fair and balanced” news oi often opinioned news. Not long ago a catch phrase that “everyone is entitled to their own opinion”. Today facts and opinions are so closely intermingled that there is no telling which is which any longer. People feel that their truth is different from another person’s. And another person’s facts are those that can be proven by evidence, such as checking it out by more than one source, which are not generally accepted as reputable.

?In business, the consequences of putting your trust someone that you have put you trust has been substantiated and that person has the requisite experience, character to perform with whatever responsibilities they will have, with the checks and balances to validate that this person is up to the job they the tasks assigned. For example, in hiring a sales and marketing executive make sure that that person understands your marketplace, the competition’s strengths and weakness. His staff’ capabilities, and the resources they need, etc. This is clearly one of the initial truths in T&C.

?Another approach might be to grow sales and profits, by reducing prices and cutting costs to increase market shar and probe. Another Strategy would be to raise prices while providing a better product that demonstratively command a higher price. This would in turn provide a better product for their customers and improve their increase their profits. your client’s bottom line by provides a better product. Either way your new sales and marketing person needs to get all the facts and first demonstrate to you that this works and withstand all of the skepticism they will encounter. Their ammunition should include market research, cost analysis, the economy, and many other factors before they go live. That is how this will work in different scenarios as to what seems to work in different venues, customer needs and where they have good customer relationships, and their customer needs best matches your capabilities. Then test market this to see what strategy works best, which may be different in the best approach and don’t bet the farm on a limited sample and certainly make sure your key accounts aren’t the guinea pigs. As always there are consequences to not doing the job right.

?Examples of Misinformation and Its Impact

1.?? The 2016 U.S. Presidential Election: One of the most significant examples of misinformation came during the 2016 election, where social media platforms became conduits for fake news, as noted before. Stories like the "Pizza gate" conspiracy, which falsely accused a D.C., pizzeria of being used for child traffic0king and where Hillary Clinton was eat babies and drinking their blood, and voting machines were rigged against Trump and the ballots for him were not countered. This misinformation was accepted at face value and tarnished the election. The consequences of these and related events included had lasting consequences, which led to cries of “stop the steal” by his supporters and directly to the January 6th, 2001, insurrection at the DC Capitol and setting the stage for violence in the 2024 election.

2.?? The corollary to the above in business is the election of the CEO by the board of directors as to the need. If the board is independent, it should decide if the CEO has done his job in the best interest of the shareholders. This is intended for the board to have independent oversight of the company and protect the shareholder. If this is a public company, do the financial statement fairly represent the financial condition of the company, is it doing at lease as well as their competitors, is the company growing, are their lawsuits on does the company expect one, or dozens of questions that knowledge board would ask and expect satisfactory answers from the CEO, etc. Assuming the board is not beholding the CEO they would be happy with the answers, have list it items that need his or her attention or have no confidence vote and start looking for their replacement.???

3.?? COVID-19 Misinformation: The pandemic that started in the US in the first quarter of 2020 and included false information and baseless information about the virus's origin, as to proper prevention measures that should have been taken, and vaccine efficacy, the use of meds on people ?but meant for horses, ingestion of caustic liquid designed for household use, and other nonsensical treatments that were not only useless, butt led spread of anti-vaccine, and again propaganda which not only undermined CDC’s efforts to eradicate the virus. but also created polarized views about science and authority. Numerous credentialed health care professionals faced challenges in countering these narratives, and the results were seen in vaccine hesitancy and public distrust in health institutions. In addition, large numbers of anti-vaccers have sprung up endangering those who do not accept that COVID deaths have been avoided. This is a perfect example of the harm misinformation can have and its impact for millions of people.

It is more likely than not then that a new COVID variant, or something we are not at all prepared for or vaccinated against, may result in a new wave of remote employees, or other challenges. Perhaps AI may come up with new ways to deal with such events.

One might remember the problems at Boars Head and other meat packing plants as well as J&J, both of whom had to close down due to contamination and much of their worker out with COVID. The damage could have been minimized if quality assurance was on the ball and caught the contamination before it left the factory.

?The Role of Authoritarianism and Partisanship

The implications of these struggles may be catastrophic to our form of a representative democracy. When misinformation prevails, it creates fertile ground for authoritarian figures and demagogues to manipulate public sentiment and consolidate power. The erosion of trust in democratic processes can lead to subverting these institutions altogether.

The same holds true for companies, when the CEO tells the CFO to make the profits higher, or the balance sheet with a better debt/liability’s ratio. If this is not supported using GAAP accounting this is misinformation, and the consequences can perhaps be covered up for a while. If the taxation documents look suspicious the IRS will meet with the CEO, and this may lead to an audit and if there is evidence for tax evasion this is a felony.

Extreme partisanship will exacerbate problems, as individuals increasingly align their beliefs with the groups they join. They will dismiss information that contradicts their world views. This is a form of cognizant dissonance where their belief and their actions don’t line up. In a corporation this may take the form of doing work that they don’t believe in but must do as part of their job that outside of work they disagree with. Examples include working for a defense contractor and being a pacifist, and being an employee of chemical company that emits pollutants while voting with the Green party candidates.?

Misinformation and Consequences

To combat the tide of misinformation and its associated risks, several strategies can be employed

1.?? Fact-Checking Organizations: Use your discretion, intelligence and common sense to critically evaluate sources and filter out those with an agenda or who are biased. If you are not sure ignore them. This is what Nate Silver does in his 538 political surveys like excluding Rasmussen data from its model due to its bias for one party. In the same way exercise your discretion and when something is suspect ignore it and tag future information on this site accordingly.

This obviously does not apply to things like commercials that can say something like my pasta sauce is better than any other because 4 out of every 5 people like it better than others and even the uneducated should know what tastes better to them is all that counts.

2.?? Misinformation and Obscuration To have harmony one should foster dialogue between diverse groups that can help bridge divides. When people are in an echo chamber which only magnifies and accentuates things other points of view are registered, you will probably not have fair and balanced news.

In politics the right and left, democrats and republican, rural and city folk’s fissures have never been so large. This is what has happens when the political parties have moved to the extremes positions of the parties and do not reflect a consensus and use wedge issues that alienate one from another. Without wedge issues party consultants and “experts” can’t make tons of money.

In business wedge issues are similar to de-commodification of a product to improve company margins and profits. This includes things like “farm raised vs. wild chickens as less healthy for you”, or “products in a plastic container vs. glass bottles are better for the planet” as environmental issue, and “candidates for a job who have applied vs. those have been recruited are better choice”, or “those who are actively looking for new job or unemployed are less desirable then those who are happy where they are now”, or “a product endorsed by a famous person, or an influencer are a better choice”,. What this does do is to separate one product or service vs. another from competition based on pricing, and help differentiate one from another, and a commodity into and a brand name, from a

Conclusion

Truth or Consequences is a choice one should consciously make and not happen as unintended action. Most of us are generally trusting because we believe that we are honest and trustworthy ourselves and therefore think others will be well. It is hard to be skeptical or cynical about people or things in general as it’s in our nature to be happy and a be social person. If there are no blinking red lights and sirens to alert you when you meet a new person, discover new facts about a friend, or a business associate you have worked with for a long time if you are typical. But one needs to balance being open to meeting new people and being friendly, with the knowledge that not everyone should be vetted in some sense and then let through into your circle of trust by earning it. But know that are people like Elizabeth Holms (Theranos), Theranos Lay (Enron) and Sam Bankman-Fried (FTX) that seek out good and trusting people. Think of this as if you were hiring a person in your company in an important position and what you would like to know in terms of due diligence and before signing employment contracts, with contingencies which can be revised as needed, What should be top of mind is the importance of Truth and consequences.