Hi, All,
A few of us have been conversing by email on this subject and I thought I’d throw it out for all to consider, as it affects all of us.
I’m interested in this subject as it is the question Pontius Pilate asked Jesus, “What is truth?” (John 18:37, 38) Also, it seems especially apropos for our day as if ever there was a time that “truth” was needed, it is now.
For me, the following concepts help tremendously, as they are ways to classify and organize truth itself and helps us to realize when we are getting complacent in our thinking. It also helps emphasize just how little we know, streamlines our avenues of inquiry, and makes the very process of learning exciting. There is no subject to which it does not apply.
A previous correspondent told me of the three different types of truth, and I greatly appreciated his thought. They were:
Absolute Truth
That truth which corresponds to absolute reality, and is usually known only to our heavenly creator and to those whom he decides to give it.
Relative Truth
The progress that we imperfect humans make toward gaining "Absolute Truth", but never quite reach in spite of our best efforts.
Relative Truth Believed Absolutely
A "Relative Truth" that we have gained such confidence in that we refuse to consider any further evidence concerning it.”
But there is a great deal more that needs to be said. To go on with a further analysis of truth in this matter, I submit the following:
I view truth as being much like an artichoke. Each truth has many leaves and each leaf has a small amount of nutrient under it. Most people will pull off a few leaves, be satisfied with what they’ve found, and never think that it would be advantageous to pull off a few more to see what is under them.
To illustrate: Most of us know that 1+1=2. It becomes an ‘absolute truth believed absolutely’ that we ‘know’ and won’t question. However, is it always?
What if we are dealing in the binary base? Then it isn’t 2, it’s 10. At one time, such a concept would have been considered a silly mind game, but now that principle is the very heart of the computer world. They wouldn’t work without it. Who would have believed a century ago that the binary base would come to have such importance in the world now?
Or what if we are in the world of biology? There 1+1 can equal 2, or 200, or 2,000, or 2,000,000. It all depends upon how long the 1 has been with the other 1. Look at the rabbits in Australia and all of the environmental damage they’ve caused.
Another example of the different layers of truth would be that riddle I’ll bet you’ve heard about the bear hunter. It goes like this:
The hunter woke up in the morning, ate breakfast, grabbed his rifle and left camp looking for bears. After walking one mile due south, he spotted a bear to the east. Heading due east, he caught up to the bear and shot and killed it at a point exactly one mile from where he first saw it. After skinning it out, he packed the hide exactly one mile due north, which brought him back to his camp, only to discover that another bear had raided the camp.
Now, what was the color of the bear that raided the camp?
Most of us will feel good about ourselves in recognizing that the clues are in the directions. At most places on earth, it would be impossible to get back to the same place by following those directions, as we would still be one mile east of the camp when done. However, if the camp was set up exactly on the north pole, you would end up right back where you started. The eastern leg would be merely an arc going around the pole. The route itself would look like a slice of pie. From there the answer is obvious. The bear was white.
However, we can take this one step further. There is an infinity of other places on the earth where we can follow the same directions and still get back to the same place. Can you tell me the general locale where they exist, and what the route will look like?
It is this “expanded thinking” that I am fascinated with. It is from there that we gain new knowledge. Just like wandering through an unexplored wilderness, one never knows what will be discovered.
Closely related to that is the “oneness or commonality” that we can find in seemingly unrelated things. I refer to it as “patterns” that we can sense behind some of the things we see. An excellent example of one would be the experience of Dmitri I. Mendeleev and the way he came to formulate his Periodic Table of Elements. (If you’re not familiar with that, check him out in the encyclopedia.)
Then too, we need to keep in mind that the knowledge we possess right now is miniscule in comparison to everything that can be learned. Look at it this way:
If, in the 1600’s, we would have walked across the room, flicked a switch on the wall and a bright light suddenly appeared in the ceiling, we would probably been hung for witchcraft. Or, to use another example, picture two of the most intelligent men of their age, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, trying to understand and fix one of today’s computers when it’s broken down.
When we look into the past and compare our knowledge now with what they had then, we appear to be light years ahead of them. That makes us feel good and flatters our egos. But in the process we tend to forget that there is far more yet to learn than what we have already learned.
We might compare it to a sand flea on the beach in Alaska. Every evening at dusk they migrate down to the water line and every dawn go right back up to the vegetation line to sleep during the day. All we are is like the one who decided to go a little farther, climbed the 15 foot bank above the shore and looked out at the magnificent view that no other sand flea in history ever saw.
He would be quite proud of himself, wouldn’t he? He may even wish to lord it over his fellows and claim to have all knowledge. But what he doesn’t realize is that a few miles further inland, there is a mountain that goes up another 20,305 feet. That rather dwarfs his measly 15 feet, doesn’t it? How are we any different? How foolish we are to allow any of our “truths” to become “relative truths believed absolutely”!
The reason I am so fascinated with this concept is that it is a way to structure knowledge, to reduce conflict and encourage the sharing of viewpoints without ego interfering with our helping one another to advance. It is a way to sharpen one another’s “face”, as the scripture says. (Prov. 27:17) It’s a whole new frontier where everyone can explore and be thrilled by their part in it.
What’s exciting is that there is a whole truckload more of artichokes, all of which need some peeling. I don’t know about you, but I’m excited.
Look this over and see if you can get a handhold on another leaf that I haven’t identified yet. Enjoy yourself and have fun.
‘Til later,
LoneWolf
Alias: Tom Howell