Conclusion

In the conclusion, I reiterate the utility of postmodern thought for shedding light on the crisis of fake news in contemporary scientific and political discourse. Although the strong version of Baudrillard’s theory of “integral reality” and Debord’s concept of the “integrated spectacle” are perhaps a step too far, the representational crisis to which they refer is all too real. One of the greatest challenges in the twenty-first century, which is inextricably linked to every other crisis examined in this book, including anthropogenic climate change, is how to respond to and mitigate the nefarious effects of the infodemic. The predicament in which we find ourselves may sometimes seem too heavy to bear, but some people such as the members of the bipartisan “Keep our Republic” commission designed to combat the erosion of democratic norms in the United States linked to alternative facts refuse to give up. There are disturbing trends, including the decision to hold the Republican Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) conference in Hungary, a country ruled by an autocratic leader that appears to be backsliding into a dictatorship, but we have no choice but to fight against the new face of obscurantism in the shape of fake news to save democracy and the planet.