“’Pics or it didn’t happen’ gained traction because in an age of bountiful technology, when everyone is armed with a camera, there is no excuse for not having evidence”

It’s a glib reply to a comrade’s boasting — coming out of Internet gaming forums to rebut boasts about high scores and awesome kills — but the fact is we like proof. Proof in the instant replay that decides the big game, the vacation pic that persuades us we were happy once, the selfie that reassures us that our face is still our own. “Pics or it didn’t happen” gained traction because in an age of bountiful technology, when everyone is armed with a camera, there is no excuse for not having evidence.

Colson Whitehead, “What We Don’t See”, The New York Times Magazine (31 May 2015), 13.