That is the question

The world is experiencing mental chaos in the present; not knowing what to believe. The news media is full of reports that appear to contradict even what was said the day before.

It is important therefore, for our thoughts to be as precise as we can and also our words.

As in the title of this essay, ‘truth’ is causing the confusion and we now longer know who to believe.

Numerous politicians are being routinely accused of ‘lying’. If we consider the meaning of the word then is ‘a statement intended to deceive’. Then there are are false ‘facts’ from unreliable sources, which may not be intended to decieve but do.

The famous Dunning Kruger effect states that amateurs are less concerned about understanding a subject than professionals, who have pondered on it for years. The less you know, the easier everything appears to be. The present administration in the United States of America has more than it’s far share of sufferers of this effect, who simplify complexity to below any standard of professional opinion.

There are also things openly ‘fictional’. These may contain some truth but are largely a product of imagination. Novels and films based on truth will declare that names and events are fictional for artistic and legal reasons. What is important is that we are not deceived into believing in fiction. The World’s religions and cults are particularly prone to this absence of adherence to truth, often for no other reason than there are based on the fog of ancient history and managed so as not to embrace the present.

The civil laws of most countries try to be based on ‘the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth’. Judges attempt to distinguish between true evidence and false evidence until something is believed to be ‘beyond doubt’. It still makes mistakes even after the most rigorous processes to remove doubt. Dictators who control the judiciary can get away, literally, with murder, using fabricated evidence or just no evidence at all.

What this shows us is that even after the most challenging and examination, ideas can turn out to be mere theory. In science, theories are subject to ‘peer review’ – critical examination by equally well qualified scientists. As the Ancient Greeks understood, theories should not be confused with facts. The present irrational dismissal of a theory because it suggests a ‘conspiracy’ (intent to cause harm) is irrational. To not investigate an accusation for emotional reasons is a clear divergence from truth, but convinces crowds.

‘Facts’ are illusive and can be the product of distortion. A satellite’s instruments may be malfunctioning or incorrectly calibrated. An individual politician may have an unconscious or deliberate bias. The process of believing that ‘climate change’ is true has taken decades, largely because it was contrary to the interests of companies that extract and sell fossil fuels. As with many complex issues, the theory was too large in scope for the general public to understand. Those who should lead opinion, politicians, often use distraction, omission, obfuscation, irrelevance, obstruction and discontinuity to align facts and fictions with political ideas.

Even when we believe something is true, it can still only be ‘relatively’ true. It might be an oversimplification that just happens to work. Basing the worth of money or tokens on gold reserves was just one such ‘truth’ that reassured governments and populations. Today physical or virtual tokens of ‘worth’ are less and less dependable.

Finally, philosophy has an angle on ‘truth’ and how to find it. If science and religions regard truth as constants and dogma, philosophers understand truth as malleable. There is no ‘fixed law’, other than the law that everything changes.

In Zen Buddhism, truth is whittled down to an individual regarding life’s purpose as no more or less than being present and observing; a formula much needed in our present times; especially when things go wrong!

Oh Bush warblers!

Now you have shit all

over my rice cake on the porch. Basho