Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull

The 2008 “Indy” movie was entertaining (but not as good as the original) and clearly the result of Hollywood imagination. But the story of crystal skulls is more interesting than that and can highlight some of our current problems with “fake news.”

So, here’s a bit of history. In 1897 Tiffany’s and Company sold a crystal skull to the British Museum as a fine example of Meso-American carved art. Furthermore, “experts” were sure the skull captured cosmic energy and had mystical healing properties.

About a century passed before modern technology was used to examine the skull and declare it as a really good fake made in Germany at the end of the 19^th century.

Even so, “true believers” are convinced it’s real. Dr. McEwan, of the British Museum is quoted as saying, “We’ve had extensive petitions claiming that damage has been done to the object because it has feelings, it’s imprisoned, it’s not allowed to fulfil its destiny, and so forth.”

Lesson

Are these believers going to change their mind because of scientific investigation? No, their truth is what they want it to be.

And that’s a reality we have to deal with as we continue to move into the future. We can’t simply “tell the truth” to people with different points of view; we must help people discover a new truth for themselves. And that takes more than facts and figures. It takes a willingness to personally explore our values and assumptions.

Application

Pretend you are a (real) journalist. Take a current issue that interests you and research it by viewing / reading supposed news outlets from the liberal and conservative press. Compare and contrast. Find the differences and now start your own investigation. If you only believe one side of the story you are lying to yourself.

And that is dangerous journalism.