Society & Culture / Philosophical Theory / Epistemology

Why "Reality Is a Social Construct" Is the Biggest Scam in Modern History

Manifesto of New Realism

Maurizio Ferraris

For decades, culture fed us an intoxicating promise: there are no facts, only interpretations. Questioning reality felt like the ultimate rebellion against authority. But killing objective truth did not bring freedom. It created a vacuum where whoever shouts loudest, owns the media, or controls the algorithm wins by default. In his groundbreaking work Manifesto of New Realism, Italian philosopher Maurizio Ferraris exposes this trap. A professor at the University of Turin and a leading voice in contemporary European philosophy, Ferraris shatters the postmodern myth that the physical universe bends to human perspective. He proves that without hard, independent facts, human ethics, justice, and resistance against tyranny instantly collapse. Here is how our grip on reality was dismantled, and why fighting for the truth is the only real revolution left: Slide 1: Irony Is a Parasite. Slapping air quotes on every belief does not make you enlightened. It isolates you. Sarcastic distance kills accountability, allowing politicians and scammers to brush off blatant lies as mere interpretations. Slide 2: The Desire Trap. We were promised that breaking taboos would destroy oppressive power structures. Instead, the system monetized our desires. Endless entertainment and personal identities became the ultimate distraction to stop us from questioning who actually owns the banks and writes the laws. Slide 3: The Slipper Test. Water does not care about your sociology thesis. Fire burns your skin whether you describe it with chemistry or poetry. Ferraris calls this unamendability: reality is the physical friction that pushes back when your theories fail. Slide 4: The Matrix of Inscriptions. Money, national borders, and crippling debt are social inventions, yet they rule your life like steel chains. Why? Because they are inscribed. Every text, receipt, and contract creates an unyielding social reality, turning your smartphone into the heaviest record-making machine in human history. Slide 5: Knowledge Is Your Only Shield. Believing that all knowledge is just a power grab is the most toxic conspiracy theory ever conceived. When truth is reduced to power, the dictator with the largest army is always right. Hard facts are the only weapon the weak have to hold power accountable. Stop settling for comfortable illusions. Rediscover why grounding yourself in stubborn, immovable reality is the only way to survive the modern digital noise.