Sunday, August 29, 2010
Ambiguous Truth
I believe that the word “truth” is a very ambiguous word. Some believe that there is only one true truth which results in a right or wrong answer while others believe that truth varies within morals, ethics religion. I personally believe that there is no truth, only perceptions of truth. I have learned this through past experiences and conversations with people in my life who shared opposing or indifferent views. More than often I found it almost unbearable to tolerate what they were discussing and I have played the Devil’s advocate. I quickly learned that a lot of people feel very strongly about certain things and do not have any inclination to change their mind or to hear the opinion of others. It became very apparent that in order to understand “truth” I needed to learn how to listen, not just hear other people’s words. More so, I needed to free my mind from bias, judgment and any pre conceived ideas. Putting myself in another person’s shoes allowed me to see the world through a whole new set of lenses. A quote that reminds me of my experiences is this. “The open minded see the truth in different things: the narrow minded see only the differences.”- Unknown source. I have come to appreciate the diversity in people’s backgrounds which plays a large role in their way of thinking and beliefs. It took patience and determination to accept that people will disagree with me and it does not make them anymore right or wrong. “Truth” is something that does not necessarily have to be proven, but something that is believed based on the individual and their life’s experiences. I am more open minded now and have taught myself to pursue other people’s beliefs and morals by asking deeper questions and often times even questioning my own. Overall, truth to me is about being tolerant, not ignorant.
Further more, an experience that has influenced my life regarding truth is a relationship that has brought me to different realizations of truth and the many aspects of it. “People say they love truth, but it reality they want to believe that which they love is true.”- unknown source. To me this quote represents my feelings towards my relationship. I have been unhappy and dissatisfied for many years now and have convinced myself by lying and manipulating my mind into believing otherwise. I have diluted the line between reality and my truth. It has become hard for me to see what is real and what I have convinced myself of. I often find myself wondering if I am satisfied with the decisions I make or am I settling for what I have so that I do not have to deal with the truth and all the pain that may follow. The desire to live true to myself and do what I feel is right has been overridden by my fears of what the truth is. In addition, I have repeatedly told myself that what I have is real and that is why I love it. My lies have become my reality and my reality is now a version of a lesser truth.
Lastly, I picked the quote “If you tell the truth you don’t have to remember anything” –Mark Twain because although it seems very simple and obvious, rarely is this ever practiced. I have had many experiences within relationships that reflect this quote. I believe that when people lie they are unintentionally creating the snow ball effect because they now have to lie to cover up their lies. Trying to remember what you said to begin with in order to stick to a particular story can and will create a recipe for disaster. Truth is something that isn’t always easy to say but speaking it once will save you a million lies.
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Interesting you bring up the "Devil's Advocate" subject, as that was pretty much what I was doing for this whole assignment :P. I do like for the most part what you said about "no truth".. again, for the most part; "truth" is like a big curveball for me, as I believe that there normally is a one-and-only-one answer for truth, yet if there is "no truth" then all we're left with are perceptions of reality. But, then again, maybe if those perceptions are lies, then maybe there is a "truth" - in that case, someone just needs to find it. Otherwise, if it's something that doesn't involve me or if I'm not interested in trying to find it, I leave truth alone :D
ReplyDeleteI agree playing devils advocate is something that must be done. It helps us to learn more about what we believe and strengthen or change how we think about truth. Trying to change peoples mind is an extremely difficult thing to do. I have found from my own personal experience talking to friends, both older and younger than I; it is much easier and wiser to learn and try to understand where the person comes from and how he or she came to form that belief. It is also how we learn more about the world. We have to be willing to shed the veil of of a dream created by lies in order to find the truth which will lead to true happiness. We have not only approach thing with our just6 heart but also realize that we must user logic as well. Though we must follow our hearts; sometime our hearts can lead us astray if it is lied to. I agree that lies do create a snowball effect; from a simple little rain drop of a lie that could lead to an ocean of deceit. However, there are times when the lies are better than the truth because most people really can't handle the reality. They find it too painful and choose to create lies in order to hide pain. Telling the truth does save a million lies but will the pain be worse than that of the lie?
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