Post-Truth and the 7 Major Issues Facing the Dayak Ethnic Groups Today
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| The Dayak people, heirs and inhabitants of Borneo, reside on the island, which spans 743,330 square kilometers, making it the third largest island in the world. They are known for their friendly and kind-hearted demeanor, yet they show no mercy to those who harm them. Illustration: Author |
The indigenous Dayak people, who reside across three countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei Darussalam) on Borneo, are currently facing threats from post-truth and seven major issues.
Can they respond to and overcome these challenges?
Dayak history reveals: the Dayak become more united when facing external threats, which become a common enemy or public foe.
There will be ancestral forces aiding them invisibly in times of crisis when they desperately need help.
The Dayak are facing post-truth
Post Truth. What creature could it be? It's a term referring to a phenomenon rampant in the 21st century, where there are numerous disputes over claims of public truth.
Today, at least 7 major post-truth issues confront the Dayak ethnic group, estimated to number 9 million worldwide.
But what is post-truth? What are its issues?
Origin of Post Truth
The academic development of the term Post Truth relates to theories and research explaining specific historical causes and impacts of this phenomenon.
The term Post Truth has been used in phrases like "post-truth politics" academically and publicly before 2016.
It was later defined by Oxford Dictionaries as "relating to a situation in which objective facts have less influence on shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief."
In 2016, the term Post-truth was named the "Word of the Year" by Oxford Dictionaries after gaining popularity during the US presidential election and the Brexit referendum in the UK.
Oxford Dictionaries also notes that the term "post-truth" is often used as an adjective to describe certain types of politics.
Some experts argue that "post-truth" shares similarities with past moral, epistemic, and political debates on relativism, postmodernity, and dishonesty in politics.
However, others argue that "post-truth" specifically relates to 21st-century communication technologies and current cultural practices.
History in Philosophy
Post-truth is a historical issue concerning truth in everyday life, especially in politics. However, truth has long been a major concern in philosophy.
Truth is also a highly complex concept in the history of philosophy, and much research and public debate on "post-truth" assume specific theories about truth, referred to by philosophers as theories of correspondence.
The most famous theory of truth, despite some criticism, is the correspondence theory, where words correspond to an accessible or collectively verifiable reality to be checked and confirmed.
Another theory of truth is coherence theory, where truth is not just about one statement but a set of interrelated statements about the world.
Some academics note that the emphasis on philosophical debates about truth has little connection to the concept of "post-truth" as it appears in popular politics (post-truth politics), rather than in philosophy. As philosopher Julian Baggini explains:
The advantage of these competing theories lies in considering their underlying contexts. When people argue about whether there were weapons of mass destruction in Saddam Hussein's Iraq, whether global warming is real and anthropogenic, or whether austerity measures are necessary, their disputes are not consequences of competing theories of truth.
No witness needs to ask a judge what theory he had in mind when asked to swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Why has the meaning of truth become so problematic in the world outside academic philosophy?
One reason is a significant disagreement and uncertainty about what is considered a reliable source of truth. Throughout most of human history, there have been relatively stable combinations of beliefs in texts and religious leaders, knowledgeable experts, and the wisdom of the people commonly known as common sense.
Now, it seems, there is almost no universal agreement on authority. This leaves us to choose our own experts or simply trust our own instincts.
Dayak history reveals: the Dayak become more united when facing external threats, which become a common enemy or public foe. There will be ancestral forces aiding them invisibly in times of crisis when they desperately need help.
According to experts who understand the concept of "post-truth" as something historically specific, as a contemporary sociological phenomenon, "post-truth" theory is only distantly related to traditional debates in philosophy about the nature of truth.
In other words, "post-truth" as a contemporary phenomenon isn't about questions like "what is truth?" or "is X true?" but rather "why don't we agree that this or that is true?"
A considerable amount of research increasingly affirms that the collapse of institutional authority in delivering truth (government, news media, especially) brought about by new media and communication technologies, new media editing technologies (visual, audio-visual), and a saturated promotional culture has resulted in confusion and games about truth, even a marketplace of truth.
Friedrich Nietzsche
Not all commentators, however, view "post-truth" as a historically specific phenomenon discussed through theories of correspondence, coherence, or pragmatics about truth. They discuss it in the philosophical tradition that asks what truth is. Friedrich Nietzsche, a 19th-century German philosopher, is sometimes mentioned in the category of "post-truth" commentators.
Friedrich Nietzsche is sometimes lifted up as a forerunner of "post-truth" theory. He argues that humans create concepts through which they define what is good and just, thereby replacing the concept of truth with value, and rooting reality in human will and the power of human will.
In his 1873 essay titled Truth and Lying in an Extra-Moral Sense, Nietzsche states that humans create truths about the world through the use of metaphor, myth, and poetry. He writes,
"If someone hides behind the bushes, then searches for it and finds it there, the search and finding are not too good: but that's what happens when seeking and finding 'truth' in the realm of reason. If I define mammals and then declare, after examining a camel, 'Behold, a type of mammal,' a truth is revealed, but it has limited value. I mean, it's highly anthropomorphic and doesn't contain a single point that would be 'true in itself' or universally valid, regardless of humans. Investigators into such truths are essentially seeking only a metamorphosis of the world into something like a human; they struggle to understand the world as something akin to humans and at most gain a sense of assimilation."
In summary, Nietzsche's views anticipate aspects of the "post-truth" era by challenging conventional notions of truth and suggesting that human perspectives and interpretations play a crucial role in shaping what is considered true.
According to Nietzsche, all insights and ideas arise from particular perspectives. This means that there are many possible viewpoints from which a truth or value judgment can be made. It declares that there's no "right" way to view the world, but this doesn't necessarily mean that all perspectives are equally valid.
Nietzsche's perspectivism denies that metaphysical objectivism is possible and asserts that no objective facts can surpass cultural formation or subjective designation. This implies that there are no objective facts, and understanding or knowledge of a thing itself is not possible.
Against positivism, which stops at the phenomena of "there are only facts," if I were to say, "No, actually there are no facts, only interpretations," it means we cannot determine any fact "in itself."
Therefore, truth (and especially belief in it) is an error, but this error is a necessary one for life: "Truth is a type of error without which a certain type of living being could not live."
Max Weber
Several influential philosophers doubt the distinction between facts and values. They argue that scientific facts are socially produced through power relationships. Max Weber stated this.
Bruno Latour
French philosopher Bruno Latour has been criticized for contributing to the intellectual foundations of "post-truth." In 2018, The New York Times published a profile of Bruno Latour and "post-truth" politics. According to the article:
In a series of controversial books in the 1970s and 1980s, [Latour] argued that scientific facts should be seen as products of scientific inquiry.
Facts, according to Latour's actor-network theory, are "networked"; they stand or fall not based on their inherent truth but on the strength of the institutions and practices that produce and make them understandable.
However, the article claims it's a misinterpretation to say that Latour doesn't believe in reality or that truth is relative.
If critics were in our circus at the time, Latour's critics might have felt something strange about the scene – old foes of science kneeling before the altar of science. But what they would miss – what they have always missed – is that Latour never tried to deny the existence of gravity. He has done something far more unusual: tried to re-describe the conditions under which this knowledge is known.
Sail the young Dayak generation with a serving of intellectual nourishment and balanced morals! Knowledge is indeed very necessary, but good character is number one.
Hannah Arendt
- The Dayak are facing marginalization with the establishment of the Ibu Kota Nusantara (National Capital) in East Kalimantan and mining permits that will cause deforestation in Kalimantan. The Dayak are falsely accused of deforesting Kalimantan due to their shifting cultivation practices, which typically use no more than 3 hectares of land. This traditional farming method, documented as far back as 10,000 years ago by Mochtar Lubis (1979), is misrepresented. In reality, deforestation in Kalimantan is driven by large-scale mining, plantations, and industries—not by the Dayak people. The Dayak have proven capable of stewarding their ancestral lands because they are natural people who live off the land.
- Debate over Land Rights and Natural Resources
One major issue related to the Dayak tribe is their rights to customary land and natural resources, which are often targeted for exploitation by external parties. In this context, understanding "post-truth" can help analyze how fake news, biased narratives, or propaganda can influence public opinion about Dayak land rights. Sometimes, objective facts about Dayak claims can be ignored or replaced by emotional efforts or narratives of interested parties. - Conflict between Forestry and Conservation
An relevant issue in the context of the Dayak tribe is the conflict between their traditional practices in utilizing forest resources and modern conservation efforts. In this regard, understanding "post-truth" can help identify how various parties might use narratives that disregard scientific facts or portray misinformation to bolster their positions in this debate. This can also create public dissent against conservation efforts based on scientific facts. - Negative Portrayal
Certain parties may attempt to tarnish the image of the Dayak tribe or build negative stereotypes about them to achieve specific goals, such as avoiding social or environmental responsibilities. In this case, understanding how false or distorted information can be used to create negative perceptions of the Dayak tribe is crucial. This can hinder efforts by the Dayak tribe to uphold their identity and rights. - Cultural Protection
The Dayak tribe has a unique culture and traditions. Understanding "post-truth" can help see how false or distorted narratives can be used to undermine or belittle the culture of the Dayak tribe. This relates to efforts to respect and protect their cultural heritage. - Political Participation
The Dayak tribe can also engage in political processes, both at the local and national levels. In the political process, understanding how fake news, disinformation, or rhetoric that ignores facts can influence elections and political views of the Dayak tribe is important. This requires critical ability to sift through valid information from invalid ones. - Regarding the statement that "Dayak originates from Yunan" and the construction of post-truth involving weak perceptions from the proof side of archaeology, documentation, as well as the historical evidence of opinion tools, it should be noted that this concept may have significant implications in the context of the history and identity of the Dayak tribe in Borneo. This post-truth construction may be an attempt to change or question historical claims or origins of the Dayak tribe as native inhabitants of Borneo. However, it is important to note that claims of this nature should be tested and verified through strong scientific evidence. If there is no evidence supporting the claim that Dayak originates from Yunan, then such claims can be considered part of a misleading post-truth narrative.
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| Don't teach birds how to fly" means don't teach Dayak people about conservation because they have proven for thousands of years to live in and nurture this environment. Illustration: Author. |
Challenges for the Dayak
The Dayak have proven capable of stewarding their ancestral lands because they are natural people who live off the land.
