Truth and Authenticity

online version

This issue of Pulse is a collection of conversations about Truth and Authenticity, featuring discussions between spiritual leaders, atheists, musicians, entrepreneurs, bioethicists, poets, mechanical engineers, activists, bloggers, filmmakers, international journalists and nomads. The question of “what is true” may be impossible to answer but it remains a core motivation in everything from artistic inspiration to international relations. In a world of Wikipedia, relativity, and the multiverse, truth tends to be whatever the majority allows to pass; yet we still find ways to trust in what we learn, in what we feel, and in each other. What dangers lurk in any discussion of truth? And what are its pleasures and liberations?

Table of Contents

• T R U T H
  in the words of anais nin, novalis...
• Simon Blackburn
  "In what ways might society be affected, for good or for bad, if we were to collectively agree that there is no such thing as ABSOLUTE TRUTH?"
• Felipe Fernandez-Armesto
  "In what ways might society be affected, for good or for bad, if we were to collectively agree that there is no such thing as ABSOLUTE TRUTH?"
• Rolf Mehnert
  Design and Authenticity: Is having an authentic brand crucial to success in today's global market? A discussion with Rolf Mehnert of Fuenfwerken Design AG
  interview by Nora Circosta
• Brandon Boyd
  Creativity and Intention: Trusting Yourself to find the Truth
  interview by Andrea Hiott
• Seth Lloyd
  Crazy Molecules: Science is Reliable, But it isn't True
  interview by Andrea Hiott
• Stefan Niggemeier
  False Friends: Truth and the Media
  A Discussion with Stefan Niggemeier, Founder of www.BILDblog.de.
• Charity Scribner
  Loss and Nostalgia
  A discussion about the ways loss can sometimes lead to Illumination
• Homi Bhabha
  Ambivalence...?
  The Moving Gun: Is Truth Merely a Matter of Interpretation? ...a discussion with the influential, albeit controversial, postcolonial theorist and Harvard professor Homi Bhabha.
• Feryal Ali Gauhar
  Interior Views: Do our thoughts create our world? Gauhar wants us to look inside to understand our images.
  interview by Anna Rohleder
• Stephen Post
  If we give more away, will we lead better lives?
  The Truth about Generosity
• Amiri Baraka: Decide for Yourself
  The Many Truths of Poet and Playwright Amiri Baraka
  interview by Andrea Hiott
• Joel Schalit
  Fighting Purity: he author of Jerusalem Calling talks about religion, politics and power.
  interview by Andrea Hiott
• Hamadou Tidiane Sy
  Can Africa Trust Europe?
  Relations this past year between European and African countries highlight the need for new paradigms in cultural diplomacy.