What is truth?

[Kemosloby]

It's Truth 2.0

 

[Father Heathen]

That's ignorance, though.

How's that different? Reality isn't shaped by what we do or don't know, nor by what we do and don't feel. It's not a lie because a lie is knowing, deliberate deceit. But it isn't truth, either.

That said, even though your grandfather was genetically middle eastern, he was raised and grew up in Italian culture, right? Which do you think had a bigger influence upon who he was?

 

[Willamena]

So if we believe that something is true, and we live our lives as if it's truth, then wouldn't it be truth? It's not like I've been living a lie, I didn't know this about my dad's background. But, now that I know, is this the new truth? Or is truth whatever we think it is...at the time?

What you're calling truth is just information. Belief is investing in information that has the appearance of truth. We invest ourselves--our thoughts, our actions, and our expectations about the world--and behave accordingly. But the information itself isn't truth, information can and does change. If we keep in mind that it's just information and not truth, the world is a lot easier to get along with.

 

[Deidre]

What you're calling truth is just information. Belief is investing in information that has the appearance of truth. We invest ourselves--our thoughts, our actions, and our expectations about the world--and behave accordingly. But the information itself isn't truth, information can and does change. If we keep in mind that it's just information and not truth, the world is a lot easier to get along with.

I want to cry reading this, seriously. This is what I needed to read today. It changes my perspective on this situation now, and not that I'm angry with my dad...I mean, he didn't learn of his father's background until long after I was born, so it wasn't like he lied to me all of my life.

That's all in the past now, and this new information as you say, I should just accept it as a new gift, and embrace it. I do, I'm excited to learn of this news, but your reply here will help me process it with less emotion. lol It is just new information, and that's how I'll view it. ((thank you))

 

[Kapalika]

I'm mostly a reductionist so truth is mostly redundant.

For example, "It's true that this chair is red." is the same as "This char is red."

Truth, essentially, is a truism. Truth is that which is true. Truth is is that which is correct (which is nothing more than "true"). Nothing more, nothing less.

The real debate IMO should be about how to determine what's true, not what truth is of in itself. In science they have the pragmatist view that it's 'true because it works'; they can't know for sure what's true but they know for sure what isn't. At least according to Feynman.