Do you believe in Absolute truth?
In Star Wars, Episode 5: The Empire Strikes Back, Obi Wan Kenobi says, “Many of the truths we cling to depends on our point of view.”
Then again…
The belief in “absolute truth” contends that what is true continues to be true, whether or not you or I believe it is true. My definition of truth falls in this category.
If I hold the point of view that water is not wet, it will not make it so, and it is from this perspective that I see the world. Others could argue that I believe this way because of a complex combination of genetics and upbringing, nature and nurture, and that truth is indeed malleable depending on point of view. This is an argument that has the potential to spiral out of control.
To assert that truth is indeed malleable and not fixed is to make a fixed assertion about truth itself. It does not follow that truth can be malleable because that point of view would have to include the idea that truth could be fixed, which would then, paradoxically negate the argument that truth can be malleable. It can therefore be taken as an axiom that truth is fixed, or rather that there is “absolute truth”.
But then again, what do I know?
That being said, how do you respond to the concept that others may hold vastly different opinions than you on what is right, wrong, true, or untrue?
Truth is in the eye of the beholder
Truth, like everything else, depends on who’s looking.
The only thing absolute in the world, depending on your beliefs, is God/Yahweh/Allah/InsertYourDeity(ies)Here. Everything else is dependent on a given set of conditions.
For example, the age-old favorite: the sky is blue. This is an absolute truth, correct? Well, that depends on many things: 1) Is the sun up, is it sunrise or sunset, is it cloudy? 2) Am I colorblind? 3) Am I human (other animals do not perceive color as we do) 4) Is it a solar eclipse? 5) Has the sun gone supernova? 6) Has Q changed the diffraction rate of air molecules and sunlight to reflect every color except green( instead of blue )?
And so on and so forth…
My point is this: In order for there to be absolute truth, you would have to have conditions be absolutly static, and that can never been guaranteed. So any truth now might not be true under different conditions.
What you CAN do is state that given the reasonable assumption that certain conditions will remain constant, certain “truths” will also always be valid.
My $.02 Weed
I Think Socrates Said It Best
I think Socrates said it best when he said, “Everything I’ve ever told you is a lie including this statement.”
The endless search for truth with no actual result is another way of saying “PhD in Philosophy”. Actually, there’s some pretty killer books by Socrates dealing with the expression and statements of truth. At UMBC, I took an intro to philosophy course (not to broaden my horizons but because the professor was hot) and I couldn’t stay awake for more than 15 minutes.
The search for absolute truth made me tired.
— Sammy G
truth…
Well of course there are some absolute truths like: I have a wife and 4 children. This is not subject to interpretation or argument. It is fact. There are also many truths which are true based only on perspective. Take the following statement: Israeli occupation of The West Bank is a good idea. Or… Bill Clinton was a great President. Or… Religion will stregthen your family.
The first two statements use words which are, by definition, subjective; words like “good” and “great”. For the last statement to be absolutely true the speaker would have to be a future-knower.
Relegion “may” stregthen your family. If you were a Kosovoan refugee who was liberated by American forces, then yes, Bill Clinton was a great President.
My point is, simply because there are some absolute truths does not, by any means, make ALL truths absolute. This subject is often brought up in the context of religion. The reality is that even if there are some thing which are true regardless of what is believed (ie, God exists, or the Bible is the word of God) there is no absolute formula for happiness which can be applied to all people with 100% success. In my opinion, that makes the importance of some absolute truths overemphasized in religious discussion. I also feel that even if there are universal truths regarding the creation of things, man’s existance, God’s plan for mankind, etc, that any man claiming to have enough knowledge of these things to call himself an expert is fooling not just others but himself as well. A single religious experience, or even a lifetime of them for that matter, when compared to the amount of stuff there is to know about all the workings of the universe is like looking at a single piece of a million piece puzzle and claiming that you know what the puzzle looks like and that you know how to put it together.
My favorite quote on the subject
“The dignity of truth is lost with much protestesting.”
Can’t remember where I heard it, though…
I always throw this statement out when, for example, people don’t recognize the Washington Redskins as the greatest football team in the history of the universe.
— Sammy G
Nice…
That’s a fabulous way to tell someone to shut up 🙂
Actually, Obi-wan said this i
Actually, Obi-wan said this in “return of the Jedi”
FYI
Crap!!
Thank you anonymous.. I stand corrected