On Post-Truth

I’ve realized that the sooner I let go of the illusion that the world will go back to the way it was, the better. And the biggest change, I think, is our relationship with truth. We used to start from the assumption that there’s an objective reality out there — something you can establish, check, confirm. These days I more and more often get the feeling that no one is really trying anymore: not to tell the truth, not to verify it. Society has lost the need for it. Lying has become part of everyday life — so ordinary that we’ve stopped noticing it.

You can see it everywhere. Take artificial intelligence — right now it’s a litmus test. From the outside it looks like the train has already left the station, everything’s been decided, the roles are cast, and if you’re not on the inside, you’re too late. But look closer and it becomes clear: much of what’s happening isn’t reality so much as an aggressive interpretation of it.

The stories about the imminent arrival of a general intelligence that will replace us are usually told as dramatically as possible. Fear is a powerful tool for steering attention. The more anxiety, the higher the engagement, the easier it is to sell solutions at any stage of readiness.

The other side is the promise of instant success. Stories about how “anyone can build a product overnight and make millions” flood the feed. Behind them stand platforms and services that need a steady flow of users — and that pay handsomely for this kind of advertising. An illusion forms that the complex is now within easy reach: just write a “prompt” and you’re a creator.

By now I hear it almost every day — someone would rather drop running their business and take up vibe-coding instead, so they can eventually replace their staff. Whenever we discuss practical AI solutions, the most common question is: “Can I just do this myself?”

Probably, yes. But then reality kicks in.

The first result is often impressive: fast, bright, inspiring. You get the feeling it’s all taking off. But at the next stage the slide begins — the attempts to refine it, to account for the nuances, to make the system stable. Edge cases show up, architectural limits, accumulated errors. And this is where most people hit a wall.

Fifty percent of the result comes quickly. Sixty takes effort and time. Few reach seventy without serious preparation. Past that, the system falls apart. What’s left is wasted time and disappointment — and the winners are the ones who sold shovels during the gold rush: the makers of “do-it-yourself” tools and the organizers of “get your system in three days” marathons. It’s striking how, all through its history, humanity keeps reaching for the magic pill.

The metrics and benchmarks we use to measure “progress” increasingly live inside closed systems. Companies set the criteria themselves, compete against them themselves, and declare the winners themselves. For most people there’s no way to verify any of it — and, frankly, few even try. The voices of those who do try to make sense of it drown in the general noise.

We live in an environment where everyone broadcasts their own version of events and calls it the truth. Lying has stopped being a stigma — it’s become a form of interpretation. And that leaves a sense of total uncertainty.

So what do we do with this?

First, let go of the fear of missing out. It’s one of the main triggers the whole system is built on. It feels like everyone’s running somewhere, earning, building, while you fall behind. In reality there are far fewer meaningful changes than it seems, and most of the news is just background.

Second, stay sober about it. Yes, the technology is advancing. The tools are getting more powerful. They’re worth using, worth bringing into daily life, worth learning to work with. But it’s worth understanding that the volume of distorted information will only grow, because it’s directly tied to the chance to extract money and attention.

And finally, don’t outsource your thinking. In a post-truth world the reference point shifts inward. Not in the sense of “trust only yourself,” but in the sense of building the ability to filter, to doubt, to compare.

Everyone now lives in their own version of reality. It’s neither good nor bad — it’s simply the new given.

Here’s to holding our own course amid the outside noise! 😎