On 06/27/2016 11:06 PM, Cecilia Tanaka wrote: >> There is no truth. You can only know what's probably not true. > > No truth. It hurts. And it is probably true. :(
What is truth? Pilate asked this question to underline the fact that in his house, his words were true simply because he said them. That's a fringe benefit of working under authority granted by a living God, i.e. the Roman Emperor. Truth in the common, everyday sense means honest reporting. "Telling the truth" is no guarantee of factual accuracy per evidence unknown to the speaker, or reasoning not used by the speaker, but a best effort by all involved leads to useful results. An engineer might say that truth is whatever concepts and data provide maximum practical utility. Propagandists take a very utilitarian approach since manufacturing truth is their stock in trade. Professionals in that field have no delusion that truth cam exist independently of the interests it serves. In formal games including maths, truth is whatever complies with the rules of the game. Among my favorite "truths" is the family of logical statements that are both true (well formed) and self contradictory, i.e. Goedel's incompleteness theorem. These formally provable truths pop the bubble of "objectivity," leaving us in a world where, at best, truth is context-dependent and strictly local. Another way to look at truth is in the context of "authenticity." Is a given person "true to" his or herself? Conscious of the role of the individual as an active participant in creating truth? This take on truth puts it in the same bucket as freedom and beauty; the stuff of art, not science. Recommended reading on truth and related topics: Quantum Psychology by Robert Anton Wilson. Dropbox link to PDF courtesy of the Erisian Liberation Front. http://db.tt/VGjx8M02
