On The Thing About Icebergs

The inability for people to pull truth from fiction has very strong ties to what I perceive as a death of semiotics. We live in a world of symbols now, not signs.

I think it was David Sedaris who commented on how important the words "Based On A True Story" have become. But why did they fail James Frey? The more brutal the story, the more people put faith in fact when faith should be in truth. This is just a confused symbol. Fact has been conflated with truth when it shouldn't be.

Billy Crudup's character in Big Fish says to his father, "The thing about icebergs is that 90% of them is below water. He perceives his father's stories as lies. When really they tell more about his experiences, his life, the things he's learned than any fact could.

You miss a lot looking only for facts.