BBC World Service schedule for American satellite radio and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

The Why Factor

Documentaries

Factual

The Why Factor  logo

The extraordinary and hidden histories behind everyday objects and actions

The Why Factor: Truth

Goldfish Shark

19/11/2018 GMT

Truth

BBC World Service - The Why Factor, Truth

Why is it so difficult to decide what is true in a world riddled with alternative facts?

Why is it so difficult to decide what’s true and what’s false in a world riddled with alternative facts?

Every day we’re bombarded with information and, with each new story or alternative fact, we have to decide what we believe to be true. 

But some of the mental short cuts we take to sift through this material allow us to be deceived: past experiences, political beliefs and laziness can all cloud our judgment. In this episode of The Why Factor, Sandra Kanthal explores why truth can be elusive. We’ll meet a woman who discovered her husband had been lying to her for 15 years, and fought through her pain to find the truth. We talk with one psychologist who argues that critical thinking skills can be weaponised to encourage a person to believe in conspiracy theories; and to someone who, through extensive research, is convinced the earth is flat.   People shape their identities around their notion of truth. This may go some way to explain why it is easier to fool someone than to convince them they have been fooled.

Producer: Chris Browning

Picture: Goldfish Shark 
Credit: Getty Images

BBC World Service

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa Schedule

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

BBC World Service Australasia

BBC World Service Online

BBC World Service South Asia

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

BBC World Service West and Central Africa Schedule

Accessibility links

Programme Index

The Why Factor

Truth

Genres

Formats

Brand

BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

About BBC World Service