Every activist and essayist must deal with a singular phenomenon when addressing the public: just how "truthful" one should be.

I'm not talking about a choice between lying or "truthing"; I'm talking about just how much truth one should inject into the message. Because, sadly, there's only so much truth a reader can take all at once.

I call it a matter of "Truth Octane." Too much truth and your audience switches off, becoming reflexive instead of reflective. Too little and you get platitudinous warm-fuzzy clouds of fog, and no conclusions drawn.