As I was looking out of the window of my dining room today, I could not believe my eyes.  For the past few weeks, the old mass of Agave growth shot up a huge column.  I looked it up, and it is an Agave Americana— commonly called a “century plant” — which is native to Mexico and parts of the United States, specifically Texas. The “century” designation is deceptive, as the plant does not live to be 100 years old. Our plants are at least 41 years old, and we never saw the gigantic phallus. From what I read, as it approaches the end of its life, the plant, known to scientists as agave americana, produces a tall stalk with numerous yellow blossoms. It dies after blooming, well short of its heralded 100 years.  Botanists with the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum and other sources have noted some interesting facts about century plants.  Stalks sometimes, but not always, reach a height of 25 to 30 feet. Ours is certainly more than 30 feet. In Mexico the indigenous people harvest the fleshy base of the plants, roast and eat it.  I am not sure I will try that.

Our plant did not have yellow blooms.  When I looked out of the window, I discovered a gorgeous big white bloom about half way up the stock. It was a real surprize and an uplifting sight.  I had to take a picture, but it was Saturday, and that is something I do not engage in on our Sabath.  I rushed to call our neighbour who loves taking photos of blooming plans to alert him to see the extraordinary sight.  He smiled, and put his finger to his lips.  “Shah, don’t tell anyone, I put it up”.  Only than did I realize it was his “artistic” display.  Perhaps he thought of it as a cute prank, but he actually created an installation. A friend who dropped in later in the day was fascinated by the sight, especially after I told her that it happens only once in 50 years. That was my “fake news”, and she thought we are so lucky to be here to see it, since we will probably not be around to see it the next time it happens. 

That is how fake news can spread and there will always be people who will believe it to be true.  Had I put the picture in Instagram or another media platform, I am sure people would believe that a new plant has been discovered. Even if they look it up and do not find it on any botanical sites, the picture is there, and that is proof enough.  I admit that pranks were part of my sins of young age.  When I worked as a scientific illustrator at the Weizman Institute of science, we were a group of fun loving, playful team.  I used disappearing ink sometimes to frustrate scientists who needed drawings for their publications.  They saw and approved the drawings, and by the time they looked again at their office, they found only blank paper.  When they came back to show it to me, I switched and showed them the real drawings and acted the innocent.  We all had a good lough.  There is only one prank I am actually ashamed I was a part of, and think we were actually cruel.  There was an older man in our office who was paranoid about his health.  The plumbing for the toilet ran on the outside of the building, and the hoses were plastic.  One person from our group injected red die with a syringe into the hose while the gentleman was using the toilet, and he was convinced he was peeing blood.  When he went to his doctor, he was relieved to get a clean bill of health.

With the advance of computers and digital photography, it is possible today to create images which are conveying any “truth” you are interested to show.  Video is especially convincing of its authenticity, and the use of the same images again and again on all medias is an excellent tool for spreading fake news and convincing people to join your political movement.  The propaganda offices of Goebbels used similar methods on film and news media from the early 1930 and during the second world war, and so did the allies. But the advance of the technology allows for widespread usage of fake news, and sometimes it is very difficult to asses what is true and what is false.

The young generation that was brought up with media availability is much more gullible.  Even if you have critical tendencies, it is hard to find genuine sources.  We witness the mass demonstrations and the violence for or against any ideology which is not the one you stand for.  Many of the students who joined the violent demonstrations chant the slogans without understanding the issues.  Surveys of demonstrators chanting “From Sea to Sea Palestine will be free” showed that many did not know which sea was actually referred to.  Some answered it is from the Atlantic to the Mississippi. There was also no awareness that by chanting that slogan they are actually calling for the annihilation of all the people in Israel.  It is sad to realize that what drives young people to join marches and demonstrations is the need to belong to a movement, thus to be open to being brainwashed to hate.  Currently, like many times before, the subject of hate are again the Jews.

How do you combat ignorance and protect people from the fake news phenomenon?  Perhaps there is no solution, perhaps we ask the wrong questions.  Perhaps we need to stop fighting the fake news and concentrate on just telling the truth. Wait for the right situation of which we can take a photograph that will show the truth. And then? Where do we publish it, and how do we convince people that indeed this picture is the truth?  At this point I rather wait for the yellow blooms to appear on the Agave Americana in my back yard. It may take a while, but then it’s also going to prolong the time it lives. How ironic that the plant which was more like an eye sore becomes so beautiful before it dies.