Truthiness refers to the quality of seeming to be true but not necessarily or actually true according to known facts.
Where did truthiness come from?
In 2005, Stephen Colbert became the host of the eponymous late-night talk show, The Colbert Report. During his first show, Colbert presented the word truthiness, using it to express a kind of "truth" that is derived from a visceral feeling rather than from any known facts. Truthiness is "What I say is right, and [nothing] anyone else says could possibly be true." It's not only that I feel it to be true, but that I feel it to be true. There's not only an emotional quality, but there's a selfish quality.
— Stephen Colbert, quoted in The A. V. Club, 25 Jan. 2006
https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/truthiness-meaning-word-origin
justice and well-being kiss. (12) Truth springs up from the earth;
justice looks down from heaven.
Rabbi Simon said: "When the time came for the Holy One Blessed Be God to create the first human being, the angels of (Divine) service broke up into opposing groups. Some among them say: 'S/he should be created.' Some among them say: 'S/he should not be created.'...
Kindness says: 'Let s/he be created because s/he will bestow kindnesses.'
Truth says: 'Let s/he not be created because s/he because s/he is entirely (made of) lies.'
Righteousness says: 'Let s/he be created for s/he will do righteous acts.'
Peace says; 'Let s/he not be created for s/he is entirely dissension.'
What did the Holy One Blessed be God do? God took truth and flung him to the ground. Thus it is written: 'You will cast truth to the ground.' (Daniel 8:12)
The angels of (Divine) service said before the Holy One Blessed be God: 'Master of worlds! Why do You despise Your seal of truth? Let truth rise from the ground as it is written: 'Truth will grow from the earth.' (Psalms 85:12)
Rabbi Hunah the rabbi of Tzippori said: "While the angels of (Divine) service were arguing with one another and occupied with one another, the Holy One Blessed be God created the first human."
God said to them: "Why are you debating? The human is already created."
What is the advantage of casting aside "truth" while "peace" remained which also argued that "s/he not be created."? Yet when we cast aside truth, peace will prevail. The root of argument is that everyone fights for his/her own "truth". But when we push "truth" aside, there is no longer something about which to dispute. Thus there is no argument, and "peace" has no claim to make.
אמר רבא מריש הוה אמינא ליכא קושטא בעלמא אמר לי ההוא מרבנן ורב טבות שמיה ואמרי לה רב טביומי שמיה דאי הוו יהבי ליה כל חללי דעלמא לא הוה משני בדבוריה זימנא חדא איקלעי לההוא אתרא וקושטא שמיה ולא הוו משני בדיבורייהו ולא הוה מיית איניש מהתם בלא זימניה נסיבי איתתא מינהון והוו לי תרתין בנין מינה יומא חד הוה יתבא דביתהו וקא חייפא רישה אתאי שיבבתה טרפא אדשא סבר לאו אורח ארעא אמר לה ליתא הכא שכיבו ליה תרתין בנין אתו אינשי דאתרא לקמיה אמרו ליה מאי האי אמר להו הכי הוה מעשה א"ל במטותא מינך פוק מאתרין ולא תגרי בהו מותנא בהנך אינשי
Said Rava: I used to think there is no truth in the whole world. A certain rabbi, whose name was Rav Tvut (and some say his name was Rav Tavyomi) that if the whole world filled with gold would be given to him, he would not change his word. It happened once that he came to a city named Kushta (truth). And the inhabitants of that city would not change their word, and it never happened that one should die an untimely death. He married a woman from there, and she bore him two children. It happened once that his wife was washing her hair and a female neighbor came knocking on the door. He thought that it's not polite [to say that she's washing her hair], and therefore said that she is out. And the two children died. And when the inhabitants came to ask him what was the reason that such an unusual thing happened to him, he told them what happened. They said: Please, move away and don't bring death to these people.
One who always wants to be victorious is very intolerant of truth. The truth may be staring him in the face. But because he is determined to win at all costs he ignores it completely. If you want to find the real truth you must rid yourself of the urge to win. Then you will be able to see the truth if you wish.
...true peace cannot come into the world except by means of the value of a peace of many faces. A peace of many faces means that all sides and approaches are seen; and it becomes clear how there is a place for them all, each one according to its worth, its place, and its content.
...It is as if the multiplicity of persons ... were the condition for the plentitude of ‘absolute Truth’; as if every person, through his uniqueness were the guarantee of the revelation of a unique aspect of truth, and some of its points would never have been revealed if some people had been absent from mankind... the totality of the true is constituted from the combination of multiple people: the uniqueness of each act of listening carrying the secret of the text; the voice of Revelation, as inflected, precisely, by each person’s ear, would be necessary to the ‘Whole’ of the Truth...
For life to be livable, truth on earth cannot be what it is in heaven. Truth in heaven may be platonic – eternal, harmonious, radiant. But man cannot aspire to such truth, and if he does, he will create conflict not peace. Men kill because they believe they possess the truth while their opponents are in error. In that case, says God, throwing truth to the ground, let human beings live by a different standard of truth, one that is human and thus conscious of its limitations. Truth on the ground is multiple, partial. Fragments of it lie everywhere. Each person, culture and language has part of it; none has it all. Truth on earth is not, nor can it aspire to be, the whole truth. It is limited, not comprehensive; particular, not universal. When two propositions conflict it is not necessarily because one is true the other false. It may be, and often is, that each represents a different perspective on reality, an alternative way of structuring order, no more and no less commensurable than a Shakespeare sonnet, a Michelangelo painting or a Schubert sonata. In heaven there is truth; on earth there are truths. Therefore each culture has something to contribute. Each person knows something no one else does.
The sages said: ‘Who is wise? One who learns from all men.” The wisest is not one who knows himself wiser than others: he is one who knows all men have some share of the truth, and is willing to learn from them, for none of us knows all the truth and each of us knows some of it. …What would faith be like? …It would be to know that I am a sentence in the story of my people and its faith, but that there are other stories, each written by God out of the letters of lives bound together in community, each bearing the unmistakable trace of his handwriting. Those who are confident in their faith are not threatened but enlarged by the different faith of others. In the midst of our multiple insecurities, we need that confidence now.
"I also hold [...] that neither truth nor God may be found in what we might call entrenched positions. Much of what I wish to say on the matter therefore revolves around the image of no-man's land [...] It was a place of fear but also the only place from which any advance could proceed.
I happen to believe that real truth, even the truth of God, is something that can never be entrenched [...] I am certain that we should not expect to find truth or God in the safety of our personal custom-built trenches."
Complicating these ideas of Truth are misinformation and disinformation. Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines misinformation and disinformation as follows:
Definition of misinformation: incorrect or misleading information
Definition of disinformation: false information deliberately and often covertly spread (as by the planting of rumors) in order to influence public opinion or obscure the truth
So that's where we are right now. The presentation of facts is seen as partisan opinion, and then every day a barrage of untruths are presented as truth, and we're just supposed to suck it up. That's the moment we live in. That's our country right now. And this is going to continue after this election, no matter who wins. Like, this is the rest of our lives, I think, this post-truth politics. With so many of us getting our news from social media and from sources that we agree with, it's easier than ever to check if a fact is true, and facts matter less than ever.
"Denying the Holocaust: The Growing Assault on Truth and Memory,"
Behind the lies of Holocaust denial
TED talk Posted May 2017
...Many of us have been taught to think there are facts and there are opinions — after studying deniers, I think differently. There are facts, there are opinions, and there are lies. And what deniers want to do is take their lies, dress them up as opinions — maybe edgy opinions, maybe sort of out-of-the-box opinions — but then if they're opinions, they should be part of the conversation. And then they encroach on the facts.
...
So why is my story more than just the story of a quirky, long, six-year, difficult lawsuit, an American professor being dragged into a courtroom by a man that the court declared in its judgment was a neo-Nazi polemicist? What message does it have? I think in the context of the question of truth, it has a very significant message. Because today, as we well know, truth and facts are under assault. Social media, for all the gifts it has given us, has also allowed the difference between facts — established facts — and lies to be flattened.
...
Truth is not relative. Many of us have grown up in the world of the academy and enlightened liberal thought, where we're taught everything is open to debate. But that's not the case. There are certain things that are true. There are indisputable facts — objective truths. ... The Earth is not flat. The climate is changing. Elvis is not alive...
...
And most importantly, truth and fact are under assault. The job ahead of us, the task ahead of us, the challenge ahead of us is great. The time to fight is short. We must act now. Later will be too late.
by Hershey H. Friedman, Professor of Business and Marketing,
Brooklyn College of the City University of New York
The literal meaning of geneivat da'at in Hebrew is theft of one's mind, thoughts, wisdom, or knowledge, i.e., fooling someone and thereby causing him or her to have a mistaken assumption, belief, and/or impression. Thus, the term is used in Jewish law to indicate deception, cheating, creating a false impression, and acquiring undeserved goodwill. Geneivat da'at goes beyond lying. Any words or actions that cause others to form incorrect conclusions about one's motives might be a violation of this prohibition. One does not have the right to diminish the ability of another person, Jew or Gentile, to make a fair and honest evaluation, whether in business or interpersonal relations.
(יח) יֵ֣שׁ בּ֭וֹטֶה כְּמַדְקְר֣וֹת חָ֑רֶב וּלְשׁ֖וֹן חֲכָמִ֣ים מַרְפֵּֽא׃ (יט) שְֽׂפַת־אֱ֭מֶת תִּכּ֣וֹן לָעַ֑ד וְעַד־אַ֝רְגִּ֗יעָה לְשׁ֣וֹן שָֽׁקֶר׃ (כ) מִ֭רְמָה בְּלֶב־חֹ֣רְשֵׁי רָ֑ע וּֽלְיֹעֲצֵ֖י שָׁל֣וֹם שִׂמְחָֽה׃ (כא) לֹא־יְאֻנֶּ֣ה לַצַּדִּ֣יק כָּל־אָ֑וֶן וּ֝רְשָׁעִ֗ים מָ֣לְאוּ רָֽע׃ (כב) תּוֹעֲבַ֣ת ה' שִׂפְתֵי־שָׁ֑קֶר וְעֹשֵׂ֖י אֱמוּנָ֣ה רְצוֹנֽוֹ׃ (כג) אָדָ֣ם עָ֭רוּם כֹּ֣סֶה דָּ֑עַת וְלֵ֥ב כְּ֝סִילִ֗ים יִקְרָ֥א אִוֶּֽלֶת׃
(18) There is blunt talk like sword-thrusts, But the speech of the wise is healing. (19) Truthful speech abides forever, A lying tongue for but a moment. (20) Deceit is in the minds of those who plot evil; For those who plan peace there is joy. (21) No harm befalls the righteous, But the wicked have their fill of misfortune. (22) Lying speech is an abomination to the LORD, But those who act faithfully please Him. (23) A clever man conceals what he knows, But the mind of a dullard cries out folly.