The Citadel is Falling: The War For Truth And Our Sense-Making Crisis
Making sense of the world today has become increasingly difficult, if not impossible. Competing narratives, deep polarization, information overload, and technological disruption have blurred the line between truth and falsehood. How did we get here and what can we do about it?
Citadels of Truth
Every society has its own way of sense-making, what Foucault calls a "regime of truth": a system of authority within society that distinguishes truth from error1. This regime is not preordained. It emerges from within, shaping our sense-making mechanisms, and steering the prevailing worldview. I refer to this truth-making infrastructure as the “Citadel”2.
The Citadel plays a crucial role: it sanctions truth claims, determines acceptable discourse, recognizes truth-tellers, and institutionalizes mechanisms and technologies for discerning truth from falsehood. This power over truth-making grants power tout court and vice versa. As Foucault emphasized, truth is inseparable from power, the two are intertwined.
Truth isn't outside power, or lacking in power…truth isn't the reward of free spirits, the child of protracted solitude, nor the privilege of those who have succeeded in liberating themselves. Truth is a thing of this world: it is produced only by virtue of multiple forms of constraint And it induces regular effects of power.
-Michel Foucault
Yet, the Citadel does not simply impose truth. It actively constructs it through evolving institutions, discourse, networks, and social practices. In hunter-gatherer societies, Truth was endorsed by figures like the tribe leader or the shaman. In medieval Europe, it was the king, priest, and nobility. In Sunni Islam, truth comes from religious texts (Quran and Hadith) and their interpretations.
Citadels come and go. Every era has witnessed Citadels challenged, their covenants broken, and their structures morphed or replaced. Prophet Muhammad overturned the power structures of 7th-century Arabia. Martin Luther challenged the Catholic Church's monopoly on truth during the Reformation. The Renaissance and Enlightenment challenged the religious orthodoxy, giving rise to the regime of Modernity. Across different eras, The Citadel has taken on new forms, continuously evolving and shaping what societies accept as truth.
The Citadel We Have
Today, we, too, live within a Citadel, though its methods have changed. From World War II onward, Politics, Media, Law, and Science3 have sedimented to uphold the current regime of truth in much of the world. These pillars, while not monolithic, often converge to shape public discourse and determine what is seen as true.
These pillars interact, collaborate, and reinforce one another. Politicians use the media to spread their narratives and pass laws that formalize their claims. They also work with scientists and each other, convening under international organizations like the UN to establish global regulations and standards. For instance, the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) acts as the primary authority in validating scientific claims related to climate science.
This is not to say that facts don’t matter or that no objective reality exists but, as philosopher Bruno Latour argued, scientific facts are not merely ‘discovered’ but are the result of complex networks of institutions, power structures, and societal negotiations. While the scientific method seeks objectivity, the process of establishing scientific consensus is deeply intertwined with the Citadel’s power structures and broader mechanisms of truth-making. Rumi puts it more alleo
The truth was a mirror in the hands of God. It fell, and broke into pieces. Everybody took a piece of it, and they looked at it and thought they had the truth.
-Rumi
A recent example of the Citadel in action can be seen in the War in Palestine. Faced with a highly complex and polarized situation, the Citadel in the West has mobilized its key pillars (politicians, media, legal frameworks, and scientific bodies) to assert specific truth claims. These include the narrative that what is happening in Gaza does not constitute genocide. These institutions aim to control the dominant narrative, silence dissenting voices and dismiss opposing views as disinformation.
The Citadel’s New Clothes
When the Citadel is forced into the open (as seen in the case of the War on Palestine), its grip on truth weakens. Despite its apparent stability, today’s Citadel faces significant threats. Its doxa is constantly challenged, truth claims are no longer accepted at face value, and “alternative facts” compete with the Citadel’s narratives.
Take COVID-19, for example. The World Health Organization’s official reports initially pointed to a likely animal origin. Meanwhile, researchers at various institutions have proposed alternative theories, such as the possibility of a lab leak. Other theories, including deliberate engineering or prior misdiagnosed circulation, have been debated in scientific and public forums.
The volume of conflicting information and political polarization has made it nearly impossible to arrive at a universally accepted conclusion.
This is what the citadel collapse feels like. Its foundational pillars—trust in Politicians, confidence in the Media, and faith in Science and Law—have all eroded.
Barbarians at the Gate
In their stead, multiple “truth tribes4” have emerged, each with its own champions, creed, and mechanisms for making sense of the world, all competing and vying to replace the Citadel.
The battle for truth is not for some absolute truth which is free of power but for the right to articulate and enforce one’s own discourse.
-Michel Foucault
One such “truth tribe” is the anti-vaxx community, which gained momentum during the COVID-19 pandemic. Rejecting government vaccination mandates and mainstream scientific consensus, this community created a parallel reality, citing alternative studies, anecdotal evidence, and conspiracy theories, to challenge the legitimacy of vaccines and public health directives.
Citadels can be resilient5. Their built-in checks and balances lend them a sense of stability and adaptability that is hard to shake. Our own Citadel has several such safeguards, including:
The separation of powers and the rule of law in democratic regimes
Independent journalism
Peer reviews and the scientific method
As long as these remain strong, the Citadel can withstand immense pressure. However, certain forces threaten to hasten its downfall:
Defections by Insiders
When trusted insiders question or reveal the Citadel’s inner workings or switch sides, they significantly weaken its authority. Edward Snowden, for instance, exposed U.S. mass surveillance, eroding public trust in intelligence agencies and the political system.Another example: Nobel Prize-winning scientist Luc Montagnier, renowned for his discovery of HIV in the 1980s, proposed in 2012 a controversial method for detecting autism, which closely aligned with the principles of homeopathy. While his claims were widely criticized by the scientific community, they were swiftly embraced (and financially supported) by anti-vaxxers, who saw his credibility as a powerful endorsement.
Incursions from Truth Tribes
When Truth tribes appropriate the Citadel’s sanctioned channels to challenge its views. For instance, figures like Joe Rogan and Jordan Peterson, have built large platforms within the existing system but frequently critique and diverge from mainstream views, effectively “hacking” the Citadel to promote their own messages.Technological Disruption
Advances in technology (especially in artificial intelligence) provide powerful tools to distort reality. Social media platforms (and their flawed business models), AI-generated deepfakes, and the spread of fake news make it ever more difficult to distinguish truth from falsehood.
Should the Citadel collapse, the consequences will be dire. Social cohesion will erode, communities will fracture along tribal lines, and trust in public institutions will continue to decline. Bombarded by competing narratives, individuals will be drifting in a sea of competing truths, vulnerable to manipulation by opportunistic leaders.
“The old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born: now is the time of monsters”
- Antonio Gramsci
Building the Citadel-to-Come
The coming days will undoubtedly be turbulent. Our epistemic crisis will shake the fabric of society. To navigate this collapse, we must first acknowledge the Citadel’s fall, and then work collectively to rebuild trust and understanding. Here are several steps we can take:
Strengthen Checks & Balances
The more robust our safeguards, the more resilient the Citadel becomes. Supporting democratic practices is essential. Equally important is backing independent journalism: by funding nonprofit news outlets, championing free press initiatives, or simply subscribing to credible news sources. Strong checks and balances are vital: they keep power in check and encourage the honest pursuit of truth.Foster “Thread Weavers”
We should nurture, train, and celebrate individuals fluent in the languages of the Citadel and that of emerging “truth tribes.” These mediators, akin to skilled diplomats, understand opposing viewpoints, allowing them to find areas of overlap and cooperation. Gandhi, for example, was a “thread weaver” who intimately understood both the British Crown and the Indian people. By supporting such individuals, we equip society with people capable of bridging the chasm between different worlds, negotiating peace treaties, and forging a new covenant.Beware of False Prophets & Tricksters
We must remain vigilant against false prophets and their poets, particularly those with charismatic personas or abundant resources who promote self-serving narratives. History is filled with figures whose grandiose visions served personal ambitions rather than collective progress, and today’s media environment only amplifies their reach. While some may be sincere, many operate out of self-interest. Stay alert to sweeping promises (like Elon Musk’s pledge to colonize Mars) and foster critical thinking by cross-referencing with independent experts. Maintaining scrutiny helps protect public trust from further erosion.Speak Truth to Power
As institutional checks weaken, whistleblowers play a vital role in holding power accountable. They take on the burden of truth-telling, often at great personal risk. They embody the ancient tradition of parrhesia—speaking truth to power6. Historically, they’ve exposed wrongdoing, from Daniel Ellsberg’s Pentagon Papers to Edward Snowden’s revelations about mass government surveillance. Yet they often face severe repercussions such as job loss, legal jeopardy, or public vilification. We must establish formal protection mechanisms, such as legal defense funds, secure reporting channels, and robust anti-retaliation laws, so people can safely come forward with evidence of corruption or abuse. By honoring whistleblowers’ courage and taking their claims seriously, we underscore the importance of truth-telling to a healthy society.
Find Resilience
In an era awash with conflicting narratives and social media outrage, emotional self-regulation is as important as critical thinking. While mindfulness practices can help individuals cope, collective resilience also matters. Communities thrive when they foster hope for the future, even amid chaos. Events like public storytelling sessions, local arts festivals, and communal gatherings can reignite a sense of shared purpose, reminding us that we remain united by common vulnerabilities and aspirations.
Conclusion
Citadels are the apparatuses through which societies establish regimes of truth. While they are foundational to civilization, they are also cyclical. As seen repeatedly throughout history, they rise, fall, and mutate when their covenant is broken.
Today, our Citadel is under siege. Truth is increasingly fragmented, trust continues to erode, and society remains deeply polarized. Emerging prophets champion new narratives, myths, and truth claims they hope will cross into the mainstream.
The result is a cacophony that overwhelms our senses and disrupts our ability to make sense of the world. To endure, we must accept the collapse and prepare for the days ahead. Perhaps with every collapse comes an opportunity. Rather than mourning the end of our Citadel, we can seize this chance to shape the next one.
Foucault, Michel. Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Writings, 1972–1977. Edited by Colin Gordon. Pantheon Books, 1980.
A Citadel is a sociopolitical and epistemological system for manufacturing, legitimizing, and preserving a dominant “regime of truth.” Various authors, such as Curtis Yarvin and Jordan Hall, have alluded to similar concepts. Yarvin, for example, discusses what he calls the “Cathedral,” an analogy that overlaps with the idea of a Citadel but is primarily focused on post-puritan society. In contrast, my interpretation sees Citadels appearing throughout history and across the political spectrum. Should neo-reactionary movements like Yarvin’s ever become mainstream, they too would coalesce into a Citadel. Meanwhile, Jordan Hall’s situational assessments touch on similar themes, particularly regarding “Truth Tribes.”
Building on Bruno Latour, I capitalize certain terms here such as Science to emphasize the institutions rather than the disciplines they may represent.
Truth Tribes are decentralized epistemic communities that reject a Citadel’s authority, forming their own sense-making mechanisms and systems of validation.
It took the Roman Empire nearly 250 years to fully collapse after the first barbarian invasions.
For more details on this, see Michel Foucault's excellent course at College de France “Le Courage de la Verité” sadly only in French.