Since truth seems to center out discussions recently we started talking about what is truth? What is it made of? And we came up with our own Holy Trinity, the three sides of truth.
We decided (for today) that truth is at the center and that Perception, Trust and Expectation are some of the various sides of the truth. And that these sides need to be congruent and the same size otherwise your view of the truth will be lopsided.
Perception – Is what I think is real; really real … that is the basis of perception. According to Wikipedia, perception comes from the Latin percepio, meaning "receiving, collecting, action of taking possession, apprehension with the mind or senses." It is the process of taking awareness or understanding of sensory information.
It is this accurate processing of outside information that drives perception. Imagine taking in what the world has to offer and accurately understanding its meaning. Not coloring the input with your own biases, but really seeing the input for what it is. Imagine not doing that: Imagine seeing a truck bearing down on you at 60 mph and misperceiving its intension to stop. Your perception of truth (the truck will stop) would be sorely shattered when the real truth comes running you down. The more you color the inputs of the world with your own perceptions, the larger this leg of the trinity becomes and the further from the real truth you get.
Trust – Why would I trust you? Without trust you can never find real truth. If I don’t trust that you’ll do what you said you would; then I have to constantly protect myself from you and I can never explore the truth. When trust is skewed and so important to you that you cannot see anything but the trust that you expected (eg. when a child trusts his mother implicitly), the truth is obscured (a child’s trust can be easily misplaced and the truth can be very different from what the child thought). It is this connection between intention (what someone said or implied they would do) and action (what they actually do) that defines trust. And the more you NEED that trust, the stronger the outcome that is based on that trust, the more skewed the trust leg of the trinity becomes and the harder it is to see the truth.
Expectation – These are the should’s of the world: The values and actions you believe others should perform based on their status, relationship, or point of view. If I view the world through big expectation glasses then the truth of a situation becomes distorted and difficult to see because I’m always looking for what other people should do … not the truth of what they will do or have done. Expectations are important when kept in line with perceptions and trust, but when they are out of touch with the other parts of the truth then all I can see is what is expected, and what really happens (the truth) fades away.
Ok, so a lot of this seems fuzzy, new age-y, and difficult to swallow. But it does seem to fit with our view of the truth. That the truth is a clear vision of reality and that clarity comes from being in balance with your view of the world and the world itself. That clarity comes from realizing that the truth does not have nor make value judgments. We as people put values on the truth. The truth just is, our values come from our own internal decisions, our own internal fear, and that fear makes our triangles lopsided. But when you finally are not scared, can let go of your fear, and right-size your triangle … clarity and the truth come out.
See you on the wireSteven
2 comments:
Observation:
In your example graphic, did you realize that your "Expectation" line is longer than either the "Trust" or "Perception" lines? Coincidence or a sub-conscious statement?
I notice that conspicuously missing from your examination of truth is "Evidence". Are you implying that evidence is the result of how you perceive the event, how you weigh that perception against your expectation and then balance the two on the trust, or "faith", you have in reality (what you believe you know or desperately wish to be true)?
For example, the men who rallied against Nicolaus Copernicus' heliocentric universe (as opposed to the Earth centered universe) openly denied and suppressed evidence because it did not fit with their "faith", or truth, of what they believed true. Their "Trust" lines in their Trinity were askew, which affected perception and expectation.
Therefore, the evidence was inconsequential. They already had their truth, and did not want evidence refuting it.
Is that what you mean?
If it is, then where does that leave evidence in the truth? Doesn't evidence play a part independently of trust, perception and expectation? Aren't great historical thinkers people who were able to temper their perceptions, trusts and expectations through dispassionate examination of evidence? Isn't that why scientific truths are able to evolve over generations?
Shouldn't evidence weigh into you analysis of truth?
Ok, I think I got a handle on it now.
What is accepted as "truth" before confirmation by evidence is alway purely the result of expectation, trust and perception. As evidence is introduced, the "truth" is altered to accommodate the evidence.
This happens whether the "truth" in question is a personal truth, scientific truth, or emotional truth.
As a rule, trust, perception and expectation help identify evidence, however these qualities also can distort it. Plus, the act of observing an event can determine its outcome.
For most "truth", however, evidence is slowly gathered over time exposing a little more of the absolute "truth" with each discovery.
For instance, in the Copernican example I cited earlier, one must remember Copernicus uncovered evidence for a "heliocentric universe". The revelation here was that the earth was no longer the center of the universe. Evidence exposed a little more of what was absolutely "true". However, as later discoveries showed, the sun is not the center of the universe either. So while the "heliocentric universe" exposed a little more of the truth, it still was not the whole story.
The evidence was enough to change the previously accepted fact that the earth was the center of the universe. The evidence altered perception, expectation and trust. A prime example of this is Einstein's discovery that time is relative. Expectation, Trust, and Perception help us formulate the truth. They give us resolve to find evidence to back up what we believe. Evidence, in turn, can totally change the perceptions, expectations, and trusts that helped to uncover the evidence in the first place.
Einstein's revelation that speed is constant and time is relative, and the evidence that backed that up, radically altered mankind's perceptions, expectations, and trusts.
Like Michaelangelo finding the Pieta by chipping away at an enormous block of marble, so do we chip away at long held illusions of truth to find what is the reality. The hammer our curiosity, the chisel being the courage to accept the evidence (whether or not it falls in line with what makes us "feel good"). Each chip the chisel takes away is the piece of evidence that takes us closer to the absolute truth.
However, like the speed of light, we can get 99.99999....% of the way there, but never reach that last fraction of a percent. The absolute truth will always be distorted by the qualities that help us expose it: Trust, Expectation and Perception. Plus, the act of observing anything will influence its outcome.
Absolute truth is something mankind must always strive toward but never reach. It is a journey and not a destination. A ring that we race around.
Is this a revelation, or the nonsensical ramblings of a lunatic mind?
Post a Comment