"The Final Truth is that there is no Final Truth." This statement was contained in a recent email from a close friend who is an existentialist, and by extension a nihilist. How many here would agree with this? Am I ridiculous perhaps in holding forth the hope that some sort of Final Truth exists? Something other than the entertaining paradix above, that is. The more I study religion the more I am confronted with an obvious specie of mental illness, one to which I succumbed for two years. Yet, in retrospect, my involvement was very unemotional, very analytical. There was very little of "me" invested in the religion.
Science is a better place to look for facts than religion. Understatement. Yet, does Truth have to be factual? Even science deals with symbols. I know there are many highly intelligent and educated people who post here. I would very much enjoy what you have to say. Please feel free to direct me to a link of an archived post you deem relevant. Thank you. MM
The Final Truth?
by Mistah MOJO 20 Replies latest watchtower bible
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Mistah MOJO
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Seeker4
That search for the ultimate, final, capital-T Truth is a waste of time. No such thing.
All the religions tell us they have found it, but your friend is right.
S4
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JamesThomas
Looking for the final truth in the ever changing mind's beliefs and theories, is like hoping to find tits on a brick. It's crazy.
Everything thought and experienced may be a lie; but what is the reality (truth) which sees it all? It may be wise to seek deeper here.
j
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tall penguin
"Tits on a brick." You so funny James. :)
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Warlock
According to the song, you CAN find some on "a brick house".
Warlock
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Sacchiel
That search for the ultimate, final, capital-T Truth is a waste of time. No such thing. All the religions tell us they have found it, but your friend is right.
It sounds like there is Truth and you know it then. I wouldn't dismiss finding truth just because some religions think they have it.
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Etude
Mistah MOJO:
OK. Here it is. The answer to everything is “496”. That’s it. It’s a not empirically verifiable through experimentation, but is via Mathematics. When convincing physical proof arrives, it will be elegant, which means it will be powerful, enlightening and simple. That is the answer to the equation worked out by Michael Green and John Schwartz when they finally solved the anomalies in the String Theory equations:
Well, even though what I’m saying is true, I know it doesn’t relieve your dilemma. However, due to the fact that this is the way things go in Science, we may have to accept that the “real Truth” may be unattainable, although we get closer and closer every day. That doesn’t mean we can’t reach some level of satisfaction. If we had been content with all the answers Isaac Newton provided us, formidable as they were, everyone, including Einstein, would never had looked further to come up with a different picture of the Universe. Now, String Theorists are looking from the point where Einstein and Quantum Mechanics left off or failed to answer troubling questions: What is the Universe really made of and how does it work? How do we come up with a unified theory that explains everything (TOE or M-theory)?
I don’t doubt that when we get some physical verification, we (I’m speaking for mankind as a whole) will also have to deal with the idea of a source, the metaphysical questions of how it all came about – what or who caused everything. From there, we should be able to derive a personal answer or Truth. Its validity should be determined by how it fits with the rest of what surrounds us. Thinking in scientific terms, I’m perfectly happy to say: “I don’t know”, and accept that as an answer when the evidence does not allow me to conclude anything further. That does not mean that I will stop asking or searching. In addition, we must recognize, as Science is proving now, that we have a “spiritual” center in our brains and that it needs to be satisfied. In light of that, I ceased to differentiate between religion, life, the law of gravity or what have you. As far as I’m concerned everything I do or think is merely a part of the greater whole that is my existence. Why should it be separated and compartmentalized? A good “religion”, if we are to have one, should not pit itself against any other “Truth”, especially those in Science. The term “religion” has lost meaning to me. Belief is more appropriate, but more along the same terms as my belief in the force of Gravity or the power of X-rays.
There was a mathematician (I’m not sure of his discipline but he was a famous thinker) who proposed the following: If you come home late one night after spending a merry time at the local pub having consumed a few brews, after staggering a bit and searching for your keys at your front door, you realize that you’ve lost them. Where would you look for them? C’mon. Guess. The answer is: Under the any lamp post along the way to your house from the pub. The reason is that if you looked where there was no light, your chances of seeing your front-door key would reduce 0. Scientifically, that makes sense. So, it’s easy to see how Descartes could only come up with one major conclusion after his dissertation on the right way of thinking, the famous “Gogito ergo sum”: “I think, therefore I exist.” Meaning, he wasn’t sure about the existence of anything or anyone else. That didn’t stop him from accepting the very reality he experienced yet could not prove and enjoy what turned out to be a very brief life.
I’ve thought long and hard about this issue. However, that’s not significant because I would have to live a very long time to make my efforts in this matter yield an all-satisfying conclusion. Just remember a few simple rules:
- Truth is universal. It doesn’t make sense to have the laws of physics (or belief or religion) that work for us in this neck of the Universe not work for the rest of the Universe. If that appears to be the case, then we need to modify our conclusions about what we had determined was true in the first place.
- Truth should be spoken of in the present tense. Never say: “It was true…” No. It IS true that Napoleon Bonaparte WAS the Emperor of France.
- If something that was considered true has been proven to no longer be true, then it was never true in the first place. Don’t argue with people who question a currently accepted truth on the basis that something which was accepted as true no longer is.
- Logic (the discipline of Logic) is the best tool for making conclusions, or not, about what you encounter. Your conclusion will be correct if your premises are true. Ah, there’s the rub! That’s why we must question everything and not accept anything too readily. Skepticism works for me!
"Forty-two!" yelled Loonquawl. "Is that all you've got to show for seven and a half million years' work?" "I checked it very thoroughly," said the computer, "and that quite definitely is the answer. I think the problem, to be quite honest with you, is that you've never actually known what the question is." From “Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.”
Might as well. Hell, the earth is going to blow up anyway. Etude.
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Mistah MOJO
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Mistah MOJO
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Mistah MOJO
Etude, apparently this site cannot reproduce Chinese characters. The result, when I replied to you in Mandarin, was simply a series of questiuon marks. How odd, since this site reproduces digital images perfectly. On to the point, I enjoyed your post, but I'm not quite ready to throw in the towel. I'm not looking for Truth in religion or philosophy. However, I may perhaps discover my own "Truth." I've picked up a delightful Clue from parakeet; since the Bible is in fact devoid of meaning for a modern person, I should read into it anything I please. Historically, such a path is a proven route to fame and fortune if one has charisma to match one's cajones. Oh, and I too enjoyed Hitchhikers Guide.
Your fellow human trapped by his senses,
MM
