Is it possible to know the truth without challenging it first?

What is a truth???

Scientifically speaking there is no such thing called “the truth”. There exists an emotion called “faith” which individuals have on the facts and beliefs that are passed on to them from their ancestors. There is something called “experimentation” that is carried out to prove that the fact is possible, and we go ahead and term it to be “the truth”.

Either we see it from our own eyes and consider it to be the truth or we rely on the experiments that are performed on the fact to confirm its reliability or we derive it from an extremely trusted source.

Let me tell you a small story that I faced when I was very small and I am so sure, that many of us might have experienced the same thing.

I remember I was too small and I can still recapitulate the story because it is very funny. One day I asked my mother, how was I born? I feel my mother’s emotion at that time might have been so embarrassing, but without showing that to me, she replied that when dad and mom were tying the knot, there is a ritual where they have to make seven rounds around the fire. When that happens, the pandit or the purohit enchants the mantra and others shower flower on the bride and the groom (a typical Indian traditional marriage). By this process the child emerges from the fire.

I remember being so proud of myself that I emerged from fire. I was so satisfied to hear the story and my mother had been so mesmerized by telling this lie to me to avoid embarrassment. This is natural, and all the mothers at that age would do the same. Nobody will be convinced enough to go ahead and explain the process of how a baby is born to a small child.

When I grew up and gained knowledge, I discovered that what my mother had said was not the truth. But it was kind of funny which makes me laugh even today.

So is it that every time the trusted people are telling us the truth? Well, truth is a relative term. I was a child then and whatever my mother taught me was the truth to me, but as I grew up, I learned and acquired knowledge and these started making more sense and logic so I denied the previous lie and accepted the truth.

Similarly, scientists say that there are black holes in the universe. They are very difficult to observe and I will probably never have the equipment to observe them personally. So shall I never believe that black holes exist? NO. I believe they exist as I follow the logic that states they do, as it is produced by incredibly well informed physicists using accurate simulations. So although this takes a greater leap of faith from me, I am prepared to not challenge this “truth” due to the clear knowledge of experts.

But the existence of God has no evidence of any kind. All accounts of The All Mighty’s existence are from highly unreliable sources and often violent, racist and bigoted individuals. Therefore I have to challenge the “truth” that God exists.

But the fact that there is an unknown force that helps you through thick and thin; that punishes you even without you knowing when you do something wrong; the fact that we look up to some external force when we are in the need of help — all forces us to believe in the existence of a Divine force that created the universe the light, the air, the water — even though The Big Bang Theory exists, what made that happen?

Therefore, I believe in the existence of a Divine Force guiding us through life’s journey, but the fact that God exists with the numerous faces and has laid down different rules for different people, that we state as religion, is very vague and unreliable.

It is inevitable that there is a wide spectrum in these examples for accepting the truth without challenging it. The more complex and difficult the “truth” is to demonstrate the more you should challenge its veracity.

So which truth to challenge and which one not to challenge?

Indeed, the truth is up to us — so we can challenge what we are presented until we get the answer that best reflects our experiences, our mentality and how we look at the world. I belief that we should challenge only those facts that are of great importance and require an immediate answer, like health related facts. But if it is imaginative and superstitious, we do not really need to find the truth, as it will inevitably unveil in sometime.

Whatever it maybe, truth, according to me, is subjective, and it is entirely our decision to trust and believe in what we are told and what we are not told, based upon the facts and logic.

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