The truth
I am fascinated by the fact that us humans often have a terrible time accepting that “our truth” is not “the truth”. We like to believe that there are some consistent “facts” which we experience and we can share. On the other hand, many of us enjoy a well-done magic show and a mystery story which reveals that the truth is not what it appeared to be. Once we registered something as “the truth” it is very difficult to convince ourselves that it was a mere “ truth” which may have been very far from “the truth”. Many of us may lie to ourselves and others by revising our story; telling ourselves, “I knew that. or “knew something was not quite right., but I just could not put my finger on it.” At the very least we may tell ourselves that now that we have all the “facts” it makes sense.
Daily judges and juries are asked to decide which story is most likely true or to decide that the evidence presented was not sufficient to reach a conclusion. Sometimes an innocent person is convicted on evidence which later is determined to be false. It is difficult to know how often this happen.
Often couples or families comes to my office and argue about who is right about some incident or event. It seems as if many of us humans believe or feel that our version of truth needs to be recognized as “the truth”. If I suggest that neither are right and both are right they may unite in now being angry at me. It seems as if many of us are frightened by the possibility that our “truth” is not “the truth or by the fact that there is no objective truth. Certainly, there may be a kernel of truth. If two cars crashed into each other that is usually an objective fact. There was a crash and there were two cars which are now damaged in a way they were not damaged prior to the accident. Establishing what car did what and when will probably be a lot more difficult unless there is some objective evidence which can be measured by experts.
The problem is not that it is difficult to determine an objective truth. The problem is that so much of our self-worth or ego becomes dependent on being considered “right” about “the truth”. Once we let go of that desire/felt need one can access the situation and proceed to do more research and/or problem solving. This works well in a business, community or home environment. Accepting that our amazing brains are also, in some ways limited, takes nothing away from our self-worth.
If we are arguing about a moral or religious belief it is best that we restrict ourselves to talking about beliefs or opinions and leave the word truth out of the conversation. It does not make sense to me that we posit a concept of God who/which is as thin skinned as a pubescent teenager.
Written December 4, 2018
I am fascinated by the fact that us humans often have a terrible time accepting that “our truth” is not “the truth”. We like to believe that there are some consistent “facts” which we experience and we can share. On the other hand, many of us enjoy a well-done magic show and a mystery story which reveals that the truth is not what it appeared to be. Once we registered something as “the truth” it is very difficult to convince ourselves that it was a mere “ truth” which may have been very far from “the truth”. Many of us may lie to ourselves and others by revising our story; telling ourselves, “I knew that. or “knew something was not quite right., but I just could not put my finger on it.” At the very least we may tell ourselves that now that we have all the “facts” it makes sense.
Daily judges and juries are asked to decide which story is most likely true or to decide that the evidence presented was not sufficient to reach a conclusion. Sometimes an innocent person is convicted on evidence which later is determined to be false. It is difficult to know how often this happen.
Often couples or families comes to my office and argue about who is right about some incident or event. It seems as if many of us humans believe or feel that our version of truth needs to be recognized as “the truth”. If I suggest that neither are right and both are right they may unite in now being angry at me. It seems as if many of us are frightened by the possibility that our “truth” is not “the truth or by the fact that there is no objective truth. Certainly, there may be a kernel of truth. If two cars crashed into each other that is usually an objective fact. There was a crash and there were two cars which are now damaged in a way they were not damaged prior to the accident. Establishing what car did what and when will probably be a lot more difficult unless there is some objective evidence which can be measured by experts.
The problem is not that it is difficult to determine an objective truth. The problem is that so much of our self-worth or ego becomes dependent on being considered “right” about “the truth”. Once we let go of that desire/felt need one can access the situation and proceed to do more research and/or problem solving. This works well in a business, community or home environment. Accepting that our amazing brains are also, in some ways limited, takes nothing away from our self-worth.
If we are arguing about a moral or religious belief it is best that we restrict ourselves to talking about beliefs or opinions and leave the word truth out of the conversation. It does not make sense to me that we posit a concept of God who/which is as thin skinned as a pubescent teenager.
Written December 4, 2018
RSS Feed