Rising Above

We live in a dishonest age, and all the lying is giving fiction a bad name. Fiction is widely regarded as a synonym for false. Fact or fiction, that’s the way we put it. But here’s the thing. Facts can be spliced together in ways that deceive. Highlight certain facts, downplay or omit others, create a false impression.

Thanks to the widespread assumption that nonfiction is fact and fiction is fantasy, few give much thought to how fictional stories are based on real-life occurrences. Based on fact, that is. In works of fiction, facts can be blended and formed into composite characters, places and events, seasoned with a dash of imagination, providing a fuller representation of reality, revealing deeper truths.

Just as the line between nonfiction and fiction is blurrier than we care to admit, fiction’s reputation as unrealistic or even flatly untrue is a bigger problem than we might imagine. Imagination is one thing, perhaps the only thing, clearly separating fictional storytelling from nonfiction. When we devalue imagination by using the words fiction and false interchangeably, we discredit one thing, perhaps the only thing, that can save us in this era of deception.

We’re being serially lied to, not merely for the sake of spreading lies, but for the purpose of making us numb to dishonesty and amenable to propaganda. Those doing the lying stand to benefit when we turn on each other, see neighbors as enemies, ferment our fears into hate, find catharsis in cruelty. The kind of brainwashing required to blind significant numbers of people to right and wrong only works when truth gets fuzzy, when enough people can’t see lies for what they are.

Problem is, ask 10 people to define a lie, you get 10 different answers. A self-proclaimed honesty trainer who leads retreats throughout the world believes all lies fit into three categories. A business guru identifies four types of liars. A criminal investigator counts five kinds of lies. A psychologist says there are six. A religious authority says seven. One crisis counselor lists eight different types. A law enforcement professional names 10. Another mental health counselor can distinguish 12. A British technologist parses out 25 distinct kinds of lies. An African pastor counts 30.

Not sure consensus will ever be reached on how many different ways truth can be twisted like a pretzel. It suffices to say we humans can get awfully creative when it comes to fibbing, fabricating, gaslighting, misrepresenting, dissembling, duping, deluding and whatever other form dishonesty may take.

Which brings me back to the imaginative power of fiction. Now more than ever, marinated as we are in deceit, with our country being guided down a path leading to the darkest of places, we need to visualize light, imagine the better world we want, put those imaginings to words, share stories of brightness and redemption far and wide.

Albert Einstein was right in believing that imagination is more important than knowledge. “Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions,” he once said. Such a logical thinker as Einstein observed: “Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.”

It can even take us to a place where truth comes into focus again, where the difference between right and wrong is plainly evident.