Friday, June 27, 2008

Truth is just one thing. truth is a lot of things.

I had a grade 12 English teacher that I really liked. Before that class, I didn't particularly like English. Maybe it was the first day when he told us that he was going to manipulate us all year, like it was his job. He is my favourite teacher. One of the things that came up a lot in his class was truth. He was say that there are two types of truth. The capital "T" which is an absolute and the lowercase "t" which is conditional and driven by perspective.

Okay so what does this mean. Well lets look at each of our lives. What is your absolute belief. I'm not asking if you have one here, but what it is because everyone believes something fully. Even if your Truth, is that all Truth is truth then so be it. It makes a confusing sentence but it looks in a lot of minds. I know it can work in mine. I do not want to get into all the Truths out there because I'm not ready to talk about Religion at 10:30 at night, even though I will not go to bed for five hours. What I will say is the way I see Truths. Truths require that all parts of them are true. True truth too. If that is not the case, then it is not Truth. If something contradicts the Truth then something is false. And not necessary the something you don't believe. That is what I believe Truth is. So what is yours?

The other truth is a little more difficult to nail. It is the truth of chocolate over vanilla or the truth of unequal information. This truth is the one you believe without really knowing everything about it. No, I'm still not talking about Religion. This is the my least favourite colour is pink moments before meeting mauve. But that is understandable, it is a personal favourite and people are allowed to change their opinions. What about facts. Most of what our parents were taught in school is wrong. What we knew about that person we met 3 months ago is wrong. What we thought was Truth in science three days ago is wrong. Look at quantim phsyics. Actually don't look at quantum physics, just look at your own life. How many things have you been wrong about that you knew you were right? How much of the world do you know? How much experience do you have? How much wisdom do you have? How much right do you have, calling the shots of what other people should believe?

The last one seems like it is a bit strong but it might be true. To the very least, what we believe to be true is the world of our children and generally those around us. If it isn't, well then you're a wuss and that is the truth. You need to believe something and believe it enough that it shows but I have a problem trusting human judgment, even my own. You need to believe something but you also need to have doubts about it. Otherwise, you are nothing more than it.

My simplified point is that truth is complicated. Now go and figure it our for yourself. And heed the words of George, "Just remember, it's not a lie if you believe it".

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