Facts, Fiction, Lies, (or let us suppose).
It’s desperately sad how so much that is published, both online and in broadcast media, isn’t true.
I’m not just referring to politics, although it’s the cesspit from which much of the practice of lying emanates, but maybe even the majority of communications you and I will receive today will be untrue.
For this reason, I frequently use a technique I learned from reading about the making of JFK.
Apparently, Kevin Costner felt uncomfortable with the transition of speculation into fact when playing the lead role in the Oliver Stone film.
He is quoted as saying:
“When I came to certain things that I was unsure about, and some other people questioned a little bit, I said Oliver, I’m not comfortable saying this. I would be more comfortable saying “Let us suppose” as opposed to “This actually happened” because if there’s no eyewitness there, you go, “Let us suppose this happened…” and Oliver didn’t fight that at all, to his credit.”
“Let us suppose”
“Perhaps”
“Maybe”
“Apparently”
“One possibility”
These words help me to avoid dogma, and signal to the reader that there are other possibilities – which mostly there are.
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