truth
- The quality or state of being true
- That which is true or in accordance with fact or reality
- A fact or belief that is accepted as true
"That in accordance with fact or reality". Now that's a slippery slope. I believe personal truth- not the kind where you think a certain thing about yourself- but the kind where because of certain things a person experienced, something can be true to them and not to someone else who went through something completely different. For example most people when they think of divorce they think of it as something horrible and traumatic. This (I think, anyways) tends to be what the majority would think. Others however have been through horrible relationships (either the children witness it, or either the husband or wife become abusive, etc.) and see divorce (or the availability of one) as a blessing. Therefore its hard to say as a fact that all divorces are traumatic and saddening. This would be why ever idea you encounter has a gray area.
Another subject that this applies (and I do apologize if this steps on anyone's toes) is the idea of there being different religions or, denominations within Christianity, specifically. It is impossible for anyone to know that what they are doing and what God/denomination they are following is the right thing. Because the fact is, people don't know until they die. Faith is a completely different thing. As Christians we are taught to have faith and put our heart into believing that we are doing the right thing and that is what keeps you hanging on to whatever it is that you do believe. I myself am a Christian and my faith is pretty strong, but I am also at peace with the fact that I cannot possibly know what is in store for me right now, because I am only human and cannot see into the future. Many denominations are ready to damn someone else to hell just because they believe something slightly different- they tell them they are wrong. But how do they know they are absolutely right themselves? As far as knowing for a fact if we're doing the right thing or not, that answer comes later in life. Orrr... your afterlife.
The third definition hints toward what I have been getting at. Society, or some group of people, have to accept something in order for it to be seen as true. A guy in my class used the example of the sky being blue- most people just accept it as a fact- but he was color blind for the first part of his life and for some time he didn't know it was blue. So to him, he didn't embrace this truth because he knew first hand that the sky can be something other than blue. Every society/group has their own truths that they follow. This usually mean that they truths they follow are not the same from group to group. So how is universal truth possible?
Now, I happened to stumble upon this website that has its list of Universal Truths and I would have posted it in the blog but it was too long. Its mostly humorous, but there is a lot of truth to them I found. Enjoy!
http://truths.omniseek.com/list.html
So readers- did I confuse anyone that read this? I hope not but comments and thoughts are always appreciated.
~Bridget Nicole
A simple example of a universal truth is 2+2=4. There are a lot of non-disputable facts in the world. That is, with a few assumptions. First, when we say universal, we are usually talking about our world as known to human experience and sensation. Second, that there is a reality at all. E.g. we do actually exist, this isn't the matrix, etc. etc.
ReplyDeleteA lot of your examples were about personal experience. Which a lot of people like to call personal truth. Nothing really wrong with that. But the fact that people have different experiences does not mean there are not universal or absolute truths. The problem is when people confuse the two or, alternatively, deny that one or the other exists.
Your example of divorce being good for one person, but bad for another is a personal experience. However, something like whether or not God exists (or exists in certain form) is a question of absolute and universal truth not personal experience/truth. Either God exists or he doesn't. He cannot exist and not exist. Our personal experience of God may differ, but he remains as whoever or whatever he is.
I've heard an example of several blind men and an elephant. "Hey, the elephant is a pillar," said the first man who touched his leg. "Oh, no! it is like a rope," said the second man who touched the tail. "Oh, no! it is like a thick branch of a tree," said the third man who touched the trunk of the elephant. "It is like a big hand fan" said the fourth man who touched the ear of the elephant. "It is like a huge wall," said the fifth man who touched the belly of the elephant. "It is like a solid pipe," Said the sixth man who touched the tusk of the elephant. [http://www.jainworld.com/literature/story25.htm]
They each had their personal experience with the elephant. Yet, it still remains that the elephant was... in fact, an elephant. That is an universal/absolute truth.
Yeah... I realized after I posted it that I was really trying to get at personal truth vs. universal truth. And how people (like I managed to do) mix the two up. Most of what I meant to say just got stuck up in my head. Good job. lol
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