Epistemology is a field dedicated to questions concerning truth, knowledge, and reality among others. When introducing epistemology, I used Descartes skeptical doubt as an extreme example of epistemological thought.
Descartes, a French mathematician and philosopher, wanted to find absolute truth in philosophy the way he saw absolutes in math. His methodology of skeptical doubt required that he discard all beliefs until he only held those he was absolutely certain were true, and to rebuild his knowledge from there. He could not trust his perception, because how could he be certain he wasn't being tricked by a malevolent being, nor could he trust anything taught to him, anything he felt or thought or knew. He came across the idea that even if everything was a lie, something must have these doubts, something was participating in the inquiry. That is the origin of the well known phrase cogito ergo sum – I think therefore I am.
After introducing the basics of epistemological inquiry, I brought up some of the current relevance of questions about truth and reality. Photoshop, sound editing, the persona presented on our social media timelines. All of these are examples of areas where reality and truth comes in to doubt, making epistemological questions extremely relevant. After all, what can we trust when the reality around us is so uncertain?