What is Truth

I would like to start by issuing a warning/public service announcement: What I am about to try to explain is difficult and many of you are not ready to hear what I have to say.

Now to the nitty gritty: Dictionary.com defines truth as: 1. A true or actual state of matter. There are several other definitions. I linked the first definition to the dictionary page so you can see all the other definitions. Now given that the first definition of the word, truth, uses its own word in the definition makes this a circular definition. One could replace the word circular with "recursive", my personal choice and favorite. The truth of anything, anything at all, comes down to perception.

I'll explain with a great deal of anecdotal evidence. The only reason that I do this is because the truth is an idea or a concept. It is intangible and thus must be "proven" in a variety of ways. " now hold on just a minute! What about science? Doesn't science give the truth of things?" Not always. I once heard a scientist, in a movie, explain science as "best guess". Yes there is empirical evidence but depending on what is revealed later with better technology and understanding, that evidence must be changed. Now the issue with that last statement is that it cannot be proven as false because only time, or rather the progression of time and technology, can empirically do so.

I've heard people say that they know the truth because they saw it with their own two eyes. To this I say: "Did you really? Did your brain fully comprehend what you saw or did it present your processing center with something it could actually understand?" The reason I say this involves the science behind sight and color. Again, to give credit where credit is due, I will link the page in this sentence for what I'm about to explain. You can "see" the color of an object because of the color in the light spectrum that is reflects, thus nothing really has a color.

There was an old story I heard once about some natives standing on a hill by the sea and saw that the waters were parting, inexplicably. This was due to the thought that they had never seen or witnessed a large vessel like a ship. One of the group saw these massive ships and began explaining to his brethren what he saw. They did not believe him. He persisted in giving full descriptions of what he saw. Finally some of the others, and eventually all of them, began to see the ship. This presents a different concept than color but shows perception.

Yes, I understand that I am all over the place, but I promise it ties together so stay with me here.

Another word within the definition of truth is reality. This sentence has the link to the definition. Another recursive definition, of sorts. Many have said that we make reality what it is based on consensus of what is real. Let's look at the base word "real" (link to that definition is provided in the word). Have you began to see a trend yet? Yes, I have taken on a huge burden with this subject.

Reality, in my own personal opinion, is the accepted perception of the mass majority. In that, I mean that we all accept that this world is real because everyone else accepts this. Recursive logic (I know!). We are given evidence through our senses which are processed by our brains. Yet, it is known that we see far more than we are consciously aware. Our brains simply "filter" out what we have been conditioned to ignore. Remember telling that young one that imaginary people aren't real? How did you come to that conclusion? Truth, reality, perception...it is all the same thing and it is linked yet separated.

Reality changes, sometimes more rapidly than we care, and we must educate and adapt or be left behind. Those left behind are generally ostracized and ridiculed or labeled some derogatory term. And those that "see" the new reality before the masses are treated exactly the same. And then there's guys like me. Simply trying to remove the veil and share what I have learned. I can't just come right out and say what I want to say because you are conditioned to immediately disbelieve and ostracize me for that. That is why we are taking the long way round. Most of you haven't even made it this far, in my story that is. But a select grouping of you are hanging on my every typed word.

I think there are some members of Hollywood (Directors, Producers, Writers and Actors) that have been trying to tell us but we only see it as entertainment. Again this is because most of you have been conditioned to immediately shut down any "receptors" that would give weight to any concept that defies reality. I also believe this is a response to keeping chaos from erupting. At this very moment, I should be taking the trash off and going shopping but the chaos in my head will not settle until I get most of this out.

I plan to do a few more stories of this nature, building off this one. But on with the idea of the truth and how to find it. I'm not entirely sure I can even find the truth, perhaps someone smarter than me who reads this can guide me. Perhaps I'll have an "AHA!" moment while writing this. We never know! That's the joy of this journey and the chaos in my brain.

In the next installment, I will continue discussing Reality as it pertains to the truth. Consider that truth and reality are dependent on one another and not always dependent on sight or the senses.