> <i>Writing inevitably consisted of an endless repetition of his achievements, none of which was ever verified, since they lacked the concept of backing up a claim with evidence.</i><p>Unfortunately, this kind of thinking is not unique to North Korea. It is present in every society to various degrees, and usually manifests itself in the incoherent tirades of those who almost invariably tout the benefits of "tradition".<p>The idea that claims need to be backed up with evidence is a relatively recent and rare occurrence in human societies. It needs to be taught, and it's often an uphill battle. In every "traditional" society, rote repetition is the most effective method of turning dubious claims into indisputable truth. The endless hand-copying of ancient texts in every medieval European monastery and Asian academy were not merely a low-tech way to make more books; much more importantly, such activities helped indoctrinate everyone who participated, both consciously and unconsciously. P is true because the Bible says so. Q is true because Confucius said so. R is true because, as the Dothraki say, "it is known." What more proof do you need? It is fucking known. Anyone who says otherwise is obviously delusional, a menace to civilization. And so the Athenians killed Socrates.<p>And this is the fundamental reason why merely "giving truth its day in court" will not be enough to get rid of the insanity that plagues the politics of every country. People like Snowden, Assange, and Manning helped bring important evidence into the light of day, and even at this very moment, people are working to smuggle evidence into regimes like North Korea. But producing evidence is only half of the battle. In order for evidence to actually serve its purpose, people's brains need to be wired to process it in the right way. We can only hope that <i>homo sapiens</i> has a natural proclivity to think critically, at least some of the time... despite a large body of evidence to the contrary.