Truth: How the Many Sides to Every Story Shape Our Reality

by Hector Macdonald

Overview

"In a time when truth is under assault, Hector Macdonald is here to defend it. He offers clear-eyed, compelling guidelines for becoming a more accurate consumer and producer of information."-Adam Grant, author of Give and Take, Originals, and Option B with Sheryl Sandberg

For fans of Nudge, Sway, and The Art of Thinking Clearly, a fascinating dive into the many ways in which "competing truths" shape our opinions, behaviors, and beliefs.

True or false? It's rarely that simple.

There is more than one truth about most things. The Internet disseminates knowledge but it also spreads hatred. Eating meat is nutritious but it's also damaging to the environment. When we communicate we naturally select the truths that are most helpful to our agenda.

We can select truths constructively to inspire organizations, encourage children, and drive progressive change. Or we can select truths that give a false impression of reality, misleading people without actually lying. Others can do the same, motivating or deceiving us with the truth. Truths are neutral but highly versatile tools that we can use for good or ill.

In Truth: How the Many Sides to Every Story Shape Our Reality, Hector Macdonald explores how truth is used and abused in politics, business, the media and everyday life. He shows how a clearer understanding of truth's many faces renders us better able to navigate our world and more influential within it. Combining great storytelling with practical takeaways and a litany of fascinating, funny, and insightful case studies, Truth is a sobering and engaging read about how profoundly our mindsets and actions are influenced by the truths that those around us choose to tell.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316510820
Publisher:	Little, Brown and Company
Publication date:	03/06/2018
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Hector Macdonald is an expert in business storytelling. As a strategic communications consultant, he has advised the leaders of some of the world's top corporations in industries as diverse as financial services, telecoms, technology, and healthcare. He is also the bestselling author of four novels.

Table of Contents

Preface 1

Introduction: When Truths Collide 3

Part 1 Partial Truths

1 Complexity 27

2 History 47

3 Context 67

4 Numbers 85

5 Story 109

Part 2 Subjective Truths

6 Morality 131

7 Desirability 151

8 Financial Value 169

Part 3 Artificial Truths

9 Definitions 191

10 Social Constructs 211

11 Names 227

Part 4 Unknown Truths

12 Predictions 249

13 Beliefs 271

Epilogue: Final Truths 291

Acknowledgements 299

Appendix 1 Misleading Truths Checklist 301

Appendix 2 Fact-checking Organizations 303

References 307

Endnotes 319

Index 333

What People are Saying About This

Adam Grant

"As an expert on choice, I’ve long believed that our choices define who we are. This book explores the ways in which the decision to tell the truth is a choice that uniquely shapes who we are. While it’s easy to assume that the act of lying is more complicated one than telling the truth, the choice to tell the truth can be equally, if not far more complex. This book is not simply about telling the truth, but rather a guide to navigate the tough decisions that lead to truth."—Sheena Iyengar, author of The Art of Choosing
“In a time when truth is under assault, Hector Macdonald is here to defend it. He offers clear-eyed, compelling guidelines for becoming a more accurate consumer and producer of information.”

Editorial Reviews

01/29/2018
Novelist and communications consultant Macdonald (Rogue Elements) encourages his audience to “spot and neutralize the misleading truths”—in short, to think critically. A kernel of factuality is, he writes, what makes “competing truths”—the “many sides” to a story­—so powerful and dangerous. The book contains a number of useful tools, such as a set of descriptions for various communicators (advocates, misinformers, and misleaders). Whether the example involves distinguishing between famous paintings and their forgeries or conditioning soldiers to kill by euphemistically reframing combat as “engaging” or “dropping” the enemy, Macdonald shows how slippery the truth can be and how context, values, and definitions have to be factored in when determining the truth of a statement. The text is peppered with thought experiments and citations of research studies, and each chapter concludes with insightful tips, such as asking oneself, “If your audience knew everything you know about your subject, would they think you had portrayed it fairly?” Macdonald declares that he is not interested in “lies, alternative facts, conspiracy theories, fake news,” but his book is undoubtedly more relevant because of its relationships to these timely topics. Although not groundbreaking, this is a useful, commonsensical framework for making reasonable, responsible, and effective decisions. Agent: Richard Pine, InkWell Management Literary. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

"In a time when truth is under assault, Hector Macdonald is here to defend it. He offers clear-eyed, compelling guidelines for becoming a more accurate consumer and producer of information."—Adam Grant, author of Give and Take, Originals, and Option B with Sheryl Sandberg

"As an expert on choice, I've long believed that our choices define who we are. This book explores the ways in which the decision to tell the truth is a choice that uniquely shapes who we are. While it's easy to assume that the act of lying is more complicated one than telling the truth, the choice to tell the truth can be equally, if not far more complex. This book is not simply about telling the truth, but rather a guide to navigate the tough decisions that lead to truth."—Sheena Iyengar, author of The Art of Choosing

"No one can tell the whole truth in all its glory. Hector Macdonald's Truth explores how communicators spin reality, whether in the name of clarity or skullduggery. Macdonald is a deft guide to a topic that could not be more timely."—William Poundstone, author of Head in the Cloud

"Delightful. Beautifully explores the truth that truth can look very different to different people."—Matt Ridley, author of Genome and The Red Queen

"Truth is a fascinating look at how such an abstract concept can be shaped to many purposes, the ethics of bending the truth, and what consumers can do to analyze the innumerable truths presented to us."—Booklist

"An interesting and entertaining excursus that, in this post-truth era, may prove of use in helping unpack a specious claim or two."—Kirkus

"An engaging primer in critical thinking, Truth will enable you to defend yourself against fake news, from bots on Twitter to loudmouths on cable television. Read the book attentively — and from then on you'll be carrying the most important concealed weapon of all: an informed mind."—Peter Robinson, former White House speechwriter and author of How Ronald Reagan Changed My Life

From the Publisher

2018-01-09
How can I mislead you? Let me count the ways.Macdonald (The Hummingbird Saint, 2016, etc.), described as an "expert in business storytelling," opens with an instructive look at one of the avenues by which dubious information becomes enshrined as fact—namely, good intentions. His case study is the lowly Andean grain called quinoa, discovered a couple of decades ago by health-conscious eaters and celebrated as a superfood. So popular was it that quinoa prices tripled in South America, followed by "rumors that local people could no longer afford to eat their traditional food because of the insatiable demand from North America and Europe." Yes, but the unstated part of the equation was that this demand brought enough money into the economy that Bolivian farmers could eat something more expensive. Chalk up a "partial truth," then, which may or may not be sufficient to explain why something is the way it is, even when ventured for "the noblest of reasons." Usefully, Macdonald examines not only partial truths—incomplete for reasons ranging from good aims to obfuscation—but also other categories of "competing truths," among them subjective and unknown truths, as well as truths that are not strictly factually provable but are so because we act on them as if they were. In the end, no matter what category our various mendacities and half-baked notions fall into, one is impressed by how much activity centers on them. In a particularly pointed example, the author examines the use of the word "natural" when applied to a fizzy drink in which cane sugar took the place of the former corn syrup and the regulatory quandaries thereby exposed, eventually causing the company to drop the term. "You know your marketers have lost touch with reality," Macdonald writes, "when they need ‘detailed regulatory guidance' on how to use a word like natural."Nothing earthshakingly new here, but an interesting and entertaining excursus that, in this post-truth era, may prove of use in helping unpack a specious claim or two.

Kirkus Reviews

Macdonald's treatise on truth dissects the many ways we talk about truth and is essential reading in a world of fake news, memes, and the bald-faced lies of our leaders. Narrator Robert Fass delivers with strong projection and a steady pace that work perfectly with Macdonald's prose. It’s a voice that will instill trust in this book on truth. In particular, Fass skillfully untangles the complex ideas and nuances of Macdonald's prose, especially when the author uses examples that require particular emphasis. Macdonald reminds listeners that truth is a multifaceted phenomenon that may never be as simple as some pretend. However, he adds, people can be more conscious of employing truth effectively in their work and personal lives. L.E. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine

MARCH 2018 - AudioFile

Macdonald's treatise on truth dissects the many ways we talk about truth and is essential reading in a world of fake news, memes, and the bald-faced lies of our leaders. Narrator Robert Fass delivers with strong projection and a steady pace that work perfectly with Macdonald's prose. It’s a voice that will instill trust in this book on truth. In particular, Fass skillfully untangles the complex ideas and nuances of Macdonald's prose, especially when the author uses examples that require particular emphasis. Macdonald reminds listeners that truth is a multifaceted phenomenon that may never be as simple as some pretend. However, he adds, people can be more conscious of employing truth effectively in their work and personal lives. L.E. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine

MARCH 2018 - AudioFile