Page 15 - Demo

thought SPACE activism
THE WAY WE FEEL, think and see the world is increasingly shaped by the messages that we receive from social media. This, in turn, is influenced by big business and powerful algorithms
on these platforms that determine what we see, and when we see it.
Our attention, and with it the information we are likely to receive and the opinions we are likely to draw, is often sold to the highest bidders. This is important, because it affects our ability to evaluate objective reality and make decisions that are based on access to
evidence rather than things we’ve seen on the internet.
Neil deGrasse Tyson,
a world-renowned astrophysicist and author, reminds us that there is more than one ‘type’ of truth. He explains, ‘Objective truths are established by evidence. Personal truths
by faith. Political truths
by incessant repetition.’
In his MasterClass class on scientific thinking
and communication, he elaborates on this idea.
‘In a free country you can have whatever personal truth you want as long as it doesn’t constrain the freedom of others.’ But both personal and political
truths can distort our ability to interpret reality if they come into conflict with an objective truth.
SOUTH AFRICA
AND PROTEST
Protest is something that many people hold personal truths about, and which is viewed in different ways depending on the political truth of the time. At its origin, ‘protest’ means ‘to assert publicly’. But what is the objective truth of protest in South Africa?
As of 2018 South Africa is, according to the World Bank, the most unequal country in the world with the gap between rich
Jen Thorpe is a feminist writer based in Cape Town. Her first
novel, The Peculiars, was longlisted for the Etisalat Prize for Literature (2016) and the Sunday Times Barry Ronge Fiction Prize (2017). Her second novel, The Fall, was published
in July 2020 and is set during one week of the #FeesMustFall protests in Cape Town.
ISSUE 1 2021 | 13
the good, the bad and the cancelled
WHETHER ON THE STREETS OR IN TWEETS, PROTESTORS AND ACTIVISTS AROUND THE WORLD HAVE TAKEN UP THE FIGHT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS, THE ENVIRONMENT AND DEMOCRACY. SOUTH AFRICA, WITH ITS LONG HISTORY OF PROTEST, IS NO EXCEPTION.
By Jen Thorpe