Is Truth Relative?

It depends on what you mean by “truth.”

There are only about three possible scenarios for how the universe works.

1. There is an objective reality that exists, but not one human in all of history has ever witnessed it. Everything, EVERYTHING, is processed through the human system of perception. Our perception is our reality. It has been proven time and time again that our perceptions, and therefore the beliefs that stem from them, are faulty. We are easily fooled or tricked into believing things are real or accurate, when they can be shown not to be. We also have tons of evidence that shows similar individuals in similar circumstances perceive things differently. They may resemble reality to some extent, but there are many – perhaps an unknowable number of – flaws or discrepancies between what we see and believe is going on and the way the world “is,” versus the objective reality that may actually exist.
2. There is no objective reality at all. There is merely the sum of our thoughts and beliefs, and all that we invent therein, which add up to something that seems objectively real to us. Taken to the extreme, this theory goes toward painting us as ‘only’ a consciousness. Seems far-fetched to me, but we have to admit it is possible.
3. There are many objective realities. Each one existing in its own universe, with its own history and distinctiveness. There is evidence to support that these different universes occupy the same space, but are simply out of phase with each other in a way that allows them to overlap without interacting. In any case, the embodied consciousnesses that occupy each one of those may or may not be able to process their relative realities the way they actually are. Certainly, in the universe where we exist, there is ample evidence to show that we at best perceive a facsimile of our surrounding reality.  See #1.

So, truth? Yeah, my truth and your truth can be a bit different. Or a lot different. The answer to this is almost certainly not knowable by man, at least until maybe we might possibly someday transcend into some other, much more enlightened state.

What do we do about it? Nothing. As far as my perception can tell, we can’t do a bloody thing, and the exercise itself is nearly pointless. We have the lives we have and the perceptions we own that go along with them. That is the reality we must work within. We simply have to do the best we can there, because anything else would appear to defeat any possible purpose or joy in life for us. And it wouldn’t do any good anyway.

But, be mindful of what this normally concrete term really implies. Your truth, no matter how iron-clad it may seem to you, is absolutely faulty (i.e. wrong) in some ways. May we all learn to operate within the humility of that reality. Minimally that means being cautious about what you think, feel, believe, and remember. More profoundly it means questioning it down to the core of who you think you are, and why you are that way. These are extremely tough questions to genuinely grapple with, in part because it’s all tied up in perception and our programming. Any conclusions you may come to are suspect.

Since it’s not really knowable, does that mean that we’re just as well off with whatever makes us feel good? Probably. And that’s awesome for those who don’t get wrapped up in the doubts or can just feel good enough about whatever they believe. Some people are naturally able to hold their beliefs in a way that to them seems nearly iron clad. What is the answer for those who don’t? Modify our beliefs? Yeah, how exactly does one go about that without some satisfying justification (i.e. compelling evidence)?

How do you convince yourself? I asked a qualified friend once if hypnotism works. Her answer (paraphrased): “It can if you believe it.”

Damn.

 

 

 

Beginning of the End

This post probably should have happened before now. This is me announcing my intention to discontinue this blog. Not today, but soon. There is not much more to say, having already written about many topics that have been compelling to me over the years, without being able to get into the backstories that have driven a lot of it. Cathartic, and hopefully useful and enlightening to some, but the job to do is going to morph into being the job done to the best of my limited ability and will. There are a series of thoughts in process that I’ll finish for the sake of closure, but I want the few readers I have to be prepared that the end is coming. Much better this way than having it be a surprise. All of the posts will remain in place for the foreseeable future.

D.I.Y.

The Do It Yourself industry is worth billions of dollars. Virtually everything we do is experiencing an explosion in the D.I.Y. realm, ranging from home improvement (one of few categories where in store sales were up Q4 of last year) to publishing to medicine. There is a utility to it, of course. The benefits are many and vary depending upon the domain in question. Some of it is just people exploring a hobby, but much of it is from people legitimately wanting to take things on themselves.

There is a less visible component to it as well. A man can list dozens of reasons why he wants to build his own deck, and they’re mostly valid to some extent. But he is also choosing to use a valuable resource (time) to accomplish something he’s probably not that good at. He’s doing it for the sake of avoiding something else. It can simply be boredom, but it’s often more. Everyone is quick to cite the money saving aspect. I argue it’s more fiscally sound to leverage what you are good at than to spend your time piddling away at something you’re not. But that involves confronting the fear. We keep ourselves busy with other things for the sake of avoiding, and we usually end up with a nice feeling of accomplishment in exchange.

This is the unspoken linchpin of the D.I.Y. explosion.

We’re living on a rock hurling through space. And we’re bored?

Documenting

From time to time I have thoughts, feelings, beliefs, or ideas that may be worth writing down. Sometimes I later wish I had written them down. Must get better at that. Okay, so I write some stuff here in a blog. Maybe some people are interested in it. Whatever. Don’t care about that. But, as soon as it’s public it becomes hard to be totally transparent. Must be cognizant of potential audience before posting things. So somewhere in the background is the real, unedited stuff. Now, that’s at least two of these to manage.