A precious word we should guard and hold tight. Truth appears as a positive. Truth is good. Mostly. There is a temptation to seek refuge in a claim of truth, however, that claim should be used only sparingly and not casually. Use it only truthfully.
What constitutes a truth?
Truth can appear absolute and not debatable. Mathematics has true and false at its core. Mathematics also cover uncertainty and probabilities. Strange how rule bound absolutes can help us manage the uncertain.
The Eiffel Tower is in Paris. But there is one in Las Vegas as well. There is a red and white tower in Tokyo that looks like an Eiffel Tower. ‘The ORIGINAL Eiffel Tower is in Paris.’ True. A more correct statement. Truth often requires some precision or detail. Generalised truths are treacherous, and appear often by way of omission of details, at times they appear out of ignorance, or lazy thinking, they appear to manipulate, they appear to hijack a conversation, there are endless reasons.
The sun will rise tomorrow. True. At a future time, the sun will be extinguished. True. Sometimes a truth is time dependent. Or the omission of certain facts happen as they are unnecessary for the context. There is nothing malicious or ill intended in the sunrise example. It is how we speak. As with the Eiffel Tower above, omitting facts creates a partial truth. The more correct version would be: ‘The sun will rise tomorrow, but scientists believe that in the future the sun will become extinguished.’ It becomes tedious to state the apparently obvious.
The bible is a book. The Koran is a book. The Talmud is a book. They all posses huge importance and an elevated status among world literature. True. Truth can surprise. In fact, most biblical scholars and historians believe Jesus was born around year 4–6 BC. True. Now, the scholars could be wrong, so the statement is hinging on ‘believe’, thus it is not a claimed truth by the scholars, but it is true that this is what they believe at present. There is seismic activity and earthquakes in Switzerland. True. Picasso created an estimated 147,800 pieces of art in his life. True. Cristopher Columbus discovered America. Untrue. The Viking Eric the Red discovered America. Untrue. Did we just forget the Indigenous people already living there?
We know it is dark at night, but the darkness can have a character, a feeling, which may come from within or may be formed by time and place and sounds. The feeling of that darkness can be individual or shared. It is true that children are often scared of the darkness or rather their minds and their imagination are playing tricks. When darkness settles it does not mean nothingness, rather it means an ignition of imagination. And darkness is rarely absolute. Within some boundary it is true that it is dark at night, but under a streetlamp you have illumination. And when does the night start? When the sun goes down? With an obvious statement about darkness and the night it can be hard to get to a proper level of truthfulness.
Black and white are opposites. True. Brown and yellow? Yellow and green form brown. True. Brown is a nice colour. The latter is an opinion not a truth. Be watchful of how an apparent logical sequence can lead you astray.
Death? It will arrive. True. Taxes? It depends. So, the famous statement: ‘Only two things are certain, death and taxes’ is untrue.
We know people lie. True. If you lie enough people start believing. Or if an untruth is repeated with sufficient intensity people start believing. Or they make excuses for the lies. Odd how streams of untruths define a logic and a universe of its own. Dictators knows this intensely. It is page 1 of their playbook.
When a truth is claimed watch out. Is it really a truth? Or is it an opinion or a point of view or an assumption without facts. Politicians come to mind. As does powerful public figures whether billionaires or CEOs of large corporations. Or certain leaders of religious organizations. Or entrepreneurs pitching a business. Understand the incentives at work, it will help you navigate the murkiness of truth.
‘Let me tell you the truth.’ A seemingly innocent manner of speaking covering an unfortunate overture to statements that may or may not contain truths. It is unlikely that a full comprehensive and exhaustive explanation will ensue. More likely it will be a version of events, observations, and opinions carefully selected and curated by a single person. It is honourable that there is an intention to deliver truth, but as always be watchful of such opening statement where a narrator is seizing the truth.
A forecast is not a truth. It is a hope, a prediction, or a point of view about the future. A forecast can be appropriated for any use suitable for the proponent. A forecast is never a comprehensive view about the future. Forecasts mostly lack proper probabilities as well as proper explanations of assumptions. Be careful to not conflate a claimed precision in a forecast with truth. Forecasted numbers presented with many decimals does not make a forecast more precise, it just shows the forecaster lacks comprehension of essentials. Be wary of people gently merging historical facts and data with a forecast. It can be so smooth you may not notice, and it typically results in unquestionable credibility of the forecast.
Be wary of people playing with your mind and the truth.
This statement is false. — True. — Then the statement is true, not false.
Obfuscation and confusion are techniques muddling the truth. Often intentional. And if unintentional you should question the intelligence of the person(s) in question. Neither is a great base for a proper dialogue.
