Is the truth of something the path of least resistance?

Spectrum

Unless hidden or confused by disinformation I believe that knowing the truth is found by following the path of least resistance. If this criterion is not met then you cannot conclude that you have the truth. The truth has a way of sorting itself out unless unatural forces are used to skew it.

Does anybody disagree?

poppers

I will respond to this, just so your thread isn't left hanging, which happens to me sometimes. You said, "I believe that knowing the truth is found by following the path of least resistance."

I think you are onto something here, maybe something more profound that you realize. "Knowing the truth" is one of those phrases that usually gets applied to situations/circumstances, the land of relative "truth"; and there is the seeking of a "higher truth" which transcends the intellect, the land of the "absolute truth/god".
I'm not sure what you mean by "following the path of least resistance", but I will take that interesting phrase and apply it to something which is dear to my heart, and that is discovering the truth of my "being", which is the domain of the transcendental. The way that I interpret that phrase is that when we no longer "construct" ourselves we approach the conscious experience of our being. By this I mean that when we no longer resist who we are by applying thoughts/ideas/conceptual frameworks we are left with nothing but our pure essence, the truth of our being. In other words, we complicate/resist who we really are through the conditioning our minds have been subjected to so that we no longer know who we really are. By following the path of least resistence we overcome that condtioning and re-discover our true selves. The problem, however, is that the conditioning is so entrenched and familiar that we are unconscious of it for the most part. Sometimes the condtioning gets bypassed; for example, when we become lost in nature to the point where we "forget" who we believe ourselves to be and feel a oneness, or when we are so tuned into a piece of art or music that our minds stop and we are fully present. These moments are free of resistence, free of notions of "self", and the knowing of the truth of oneself gets revealed, but this knowing of the truth of oneself is nonconceptual, for this truth is beyond the mind's ability to grasp.

poppers

kid-A

Unless hidden or confused by disinformation I believe that knowing the truth is found by following the path of least resistance

I would agree, but I have found that all truth is hidden and/or confused by disinformation. Ideally, the truth will out, but in reality, we are limited by our own distorted perceptions defined by our personal histories and those of our influences. The tabula rasa does not exist.

stillajwexelder

knowing the truth is found by following the path of least resistance. If this criterion is not met then you cannot conclude that you have the truth.

Agreed - so no such thing as hellfire - clear and simple - so the truth

There is no Trinity which is so complicated - so the truth

1914 - well this date and that date multiplied by this date but it is not really a day but a year la di da di da -complicated - so not true

BluesBrother

But how can we tell when it is ,or is not distorted? Only by careful reasoning.

I agree that in many cases, what seems obviously right, turns out to be right.

I have just been reviewing the WT use of the word "Jehovah" in the Greek Scriptures {New Testament] One scripture in today's study article is Romans 14.8 The Greek text uses 'kyrios', so why change it to Jehovah? That requires an effort to bend the text to the translater's will. The path of least resistance would, in my view, have been more likely accurate.

Spectrum

poppers,

Path of least resistance means that the truth stares you in the face when it is not shrouded in lies and half truths. The truth is accessible to all - no great intellect is required.
I had to read your post a couple of times to get into the meaning of your words. I don't think many of us have been to the place you are describing - the threshold above which the truth is revealed.
I think what you have described can be seen as passing the criterion of path of least resistance because once you've reached this place the truth is revealed rather than have to perform say complex analysis of. The problem is getting there. Does that kill off the criterion
I don't know if humans can operate outside of the consciousness their mind creates though.

Interesting post!

Spectrum

A-Kid,

" but in reality, we are limited by our own distorted perceptions defined by our personal histories and those of our influences"

Your post infers that unless we are pure of mind, like a god might be, the truth can never be revealed to man.
Maybe we as humans suffer from the Heisenburg's uncertainty principle.

Spectrum

BluesBrother,

" The Greek text uses 'kyrios', so why change it to Jehovah? That requires an effort to bend the text to the translater's will. The path of least resistance would, in my view, have been more likely accurate. "

Yes, I think that something like that is a good example. Only caveat is if those first Christian's didn't know the true nature of God then they can only pass down disinformation to us which case we are dealing with a lie.

If we assume that they did know the true nature of God then the path of least resistance would be to keep Kyrios which put's JWs in the lie.

tetrapod.sapien

i have been thinking about this quite a bit lately too Spectrum.

personally, i agree, though i think there are actually two types of truth, if i may be permitted categorization for the sake of discussion. there is personal truth (in a post modernist sense) which involves your mind, it's relationship with the world, emotions, feelings, experiences. this is a subjective type truth. very powerful, but subjective none the less. and then there is technical truth, or scientific and empirical truth, which for many is actually their personal truth. and in this regard i agree with kid-A. coming to an understanding of technical truth takes a lot of rigor and objectivity.

whereas coming to a personal truth (also a spiritual or existential truth) requires the path of least resistence, imo. and in this sense i agree with you. one would just have to remember that the easiest path is not always the prettiest or the holiest. it may involve much depravity, if what we are talking about is the easiest path, and you approach personal truth in a post modernist sort of way, where everything is relative to the individual's mind, and one man's red may be another man's orange. the path may be dark and scary. it's called finding yourself. few actually ever do this, and follow the path all the way to the end of their life. most get off at some point when they start feeling uncomfortable with the road ahead.

of course, the two paths do not have to be mutally exclusive, which is where morals, for many, come in. which is why i laugh at the concept of government and religion. because they are subjecting the individual to what is best for the group. and who decides what morals are best for the group? individuals in the group, of course. so while it works for the benefit of the group, i personally think that although i don't want to murder anyone, i am not going to be the one who says: "murder is wrong" because that was something decided by the group. and as we all know coming from the wts, truth is not found in numbers. therefore, morals are a group distraction from the power of individual truth realization, imo. and any morals that do not benefit the group, but rather individuals, i am free to reject, since morals are relative along with personal truth. LOL. I'M FREE!! ha ha!

anyone who tells me that i am wrong is either imposing the group moral structure on me, or their own personal truth. i reject both (if it is the path of least resistance, hehe).

TS

poppers

Spectrum, you said, "I don't know if humans can operate outside of the consciousness their mind creates though."
I would ask if this statement has been verified in your direct experience, or is it an unquestioned assumption. Investigate - see if mind creates consciousness or if mind arises out of consciousness. There is a vast difference, and this difference is critical in discovering the truth of one's being.

Is the truth of something the path of least resistance?

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