71. WHAT IS TRUTH?

There are some clues to being all that we are ordained to be that call for exploring in different ways. Repeating some topics in these posts may seem redundant; however, when topics are repeated, I will try to add something new to motivate us to dig deeper into that topic. This post will attempt to dig deeper into the subject of truth.

The question that I hope you will find engaging is, “What does truth mean to you?”

Perhaps we equate truth with facts. But remember how many centuries and how many millions of people were certain that the earth was flat. It is likely that learned scholars even came up with facts to justify that false view. Then, we discovered that the earth is round. And now, we have pictures of our round earth. Maybe we think that we know the truth when we can verify the facts on which our view of truth stands.

Perhaps we think truth is what we have been taught by those we trust — family, teachers, ministers, political leaders. This is often the way we view truth, especially when we are young. Then we encounter different sources of truth and change our views when we come to trust new sources. Maybe we associate truth with trust. But our sources of trust change as we open our minds to new sources.

Perhaps we are influenced in what we view as true by the contexts in which we live. In fact, if we are surrounded by reinforcement that we can count on our immediate culture for truth, we may be inclined to accept only what that immediate culture conveys. For example, in the early days of scientific discovery, some of our immediate cultures viewed conflicts between religion and science.

In a Pew Research Center survey, 59% of respondents thought that science and religion are often in conflict. However, 38% found science and religion to be mostly compatible. But in answer to a different question about how science conflicts with their own beliefs, 30% said that their personal faith conflicted with science. Maybe our view of truth is changing as we are more comfortable with ways that science and religion shake hands. Perhaps religious people even see some truth in subjects like evolution.

We also seem to be impacted by our immediate social culture when it comes to our views of political truth. When we are surrounded by reinforcement about political issues, we are known to ascribe “those others” as being fake. Think of how we are polarized in our views about climate change. Where is the truth about this crucial issue? Are political parties privy to the truth or should we be willing to take a deeper look at multiple scientific sources?

Some suggest that truth is not a property but an attitude. This might be expressed in the view that truth corresponds to successful actions. If something works, it might be true. But this begs the issue that something might work for me but not for you. Then which is true? Or must we conclude that truth is in the opinion of the beholder?

We might be tempted to confirm truth intuitively. If it feels true, then it must be true. But this sounds like truth is based subjectively rather than objectively. This seems to be in conflict with the view that truth is what can be verified.

It may be that we rely on criteria that support what we view as positive and constructive to determine truth. But might others have different definitions of what is positive and constructive?

Of course, we may not wish to lock in on either of these ways to determine truth. Maybe we are equipped with the competence of a more coherent perspective. Maybe we come to a conviction about what is true based on all of the above. Maybe we are able to “discover” truth by being open and receptive to multiple indicators.

Q: What does truth mean to you?