The Truth

[Lito]

Everyone always wants the "truth", which is assuming that there is only one.  But the truth is so manipulable, that there can be several truths at one time.

For example, on a rainy day you feel gloomy, and on a sunny day you feel happy.  This is a truth, not the truth.  All the children are being
brainwashed by children television shows that Sun = good, rain = bad, ie Teletubbies, Barney, etc.  That is how we were taught to think, this is how we think.

However, it doesn't always have to be this way.  For some people, rain is happy, rain is great, and sun is bad.  The desert ecosystem, for example, looks devoid of life because the animals are hiding from the heat, and trying to keep cool.  Once the rains come in, they come out, cactus flowers bloom, and the "devoid" desert is now bustling full of life.

The Truth is so easily changed, and thus humans are just as easily swayed.  Humans are controlled by thier perspective of the truth, because that is human.

Just my two cents

[Geminosity]

actually the sun/rain associatation is natural, not taught ^^

We have a gland, sometimes refered to as the 'third eye', that sits neatly in the area towards the front of our cranium.  Not only does this fun lil thing secrete the chemicals that define our skin and hair pigmentation but it's highly sensitive to light, specifically sunlight.  When the weather is dull the organ picks this up and it alters our overall mood, while lots of sunlight naturally lightens our mood.
In some people this lil piece of our biology goes a little nuts and they end up with a magnified version of the natural condition called Seasonal Affliction Disorder (SAD).  When you have this it makes you manically depressive if you don't recieve enough sunlight... quite often these people have to replace the bulbs in their house with specially made 'sunlight' bulbs that emulate natural light to alleviate their condition.

Rain's perception is also conditional, even without the teletubbies lol.  In a land where it's plentiful like scotland it can be a pain in the rear; it makes the roads slippy, when it's heavy it's uncomfortable and while it does replenish our water reserves and the like we're rarely without water so it's benefits aren't percieved.  Meanwhile in the desert where water is scarce it really can mean the difference between life and death.  It's needed for crops, livestock and just general drinking.

Sometimes perceptions get mistaken for truths... the effects of light penetrating our atmosphere and other layers making the sky appear a colour and tone often associated with 'blue', the fact rain is what you make of it and that weather effects our mood.  Those are genuine truths =3

[Niteowl]

truth CAN be relative, but is not always. truth can also be defined by cultural amores, media induced ideas, family beliefs, religion, what have you.

however, it's incorrect, imho, to say ALL truth is relativisitic/defined externally.

[That Annoying Kid]

truth CAN be relative, but is not always. truth can also be defined by cultural amores, media induced ideas, family beliefs, religion, what have you.

however, it's incorrect, imho, to say ALL truth is relativisitic/defined externally.

^^



with age comes wisdom


[edit]
hi saltzbad
[/edit]

[SaltzBad]

You got it all wrong. The absolute truth is I wear pants. Sometimes.

[BobTheJanitor]

With great pants come great responsibility.

And thus another great thread is ruined.

[That Annoying Kid]

And thus another great thread is ruined.

yup, thats exactly why I tried to make this discussion

[Black Mage]

sun is evil, it makes glare, glare bad for mage!
mage go kill sun now

[Nuketheplace]

Just remember the whole truth makes you go crazy.  We all should learn form the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and never seek truth

[ShootBang]

hiiiiiiissssss
Natural light!!!!!!
IT BURNS!!!!!

Anyway... Lito IS right about one thing...
Some things we are taught and some things are genetic. For example... I Grew up in the desert (Viva Las Vegas BABY!!!), so i like the heat. I naturally adjusted to my habitat. Now I moved to a colder place, where the winters are generally below freezing. I can't stand the cold because I grew up somewhere hot.

Now... on the other hand... I love snow. Having never really experienced snow, I was extremely excited to see it snowing where I live. This could be a mixture of two things; one being that it's something new to me, so it's exciting. The other, probably better reason I like the snow so much is because around the holidays I always was pressured with the idea of kids having fun in the snow and how great snow must be. People who've lived with lots of snow start to think that it's no big deal... a normal part of winter life.

Fun stuff.

[Satanic Monkey]

Ok this tread is weird ¿ and I love cold weather, was born in New jersey duringa winter month and now i'm living in Miami and I get happy when it's slighty cold.

[holy_devil]

the truth of the truth isn't existant based on what you said, for there is no the truth theres an understanding, so maybe we should just say 'this is what i know' or 'this is how i understand this'

simple version: truth = what you think to be real

edit: i think this makes sense, but probably not, i'll add more later

[Lito]

which is exactly my point.  There are infintisimal numbers of the "same" truth, but it changes slightly with one's experiences, character, etc.

[Path]

Truth is altered by perception, experiences, and other things. The complete truth, encompassing all factors, would be fact. Say there was a ball with one half of it blue, and the other half red. If you were shown the ball, but you only saw the blue half, when you were asked what color the ball was, you would answer with the truth (as you saw it) and say "The ball was blue." This may not be fact, but it is the truth.

Back to the very original example, I live in the Arizona desert, and it rains about 10 days a year, and that is no joke. So, when it rains, or even gets overcast, to me it's a very great day (that is my truth). The fact is simply it is raining.

Truth is merely an unaltered description of one's perception of fact.

[Uranium - 235]

<_< The more I read this thread, the more I keep thinking about a bunch of aging hippies passing a doobie the size of my arm around...

[Geminosity]

lol, ewww... I wouldn't touch that stuff even if you forced it on me =P

anyways, I've always associated truth with fact to be honest, hence my original post.  That's also why I often get annoyed with people for mistaking their opinions to be facts, because I like to hear the 'truth'.  An opinion that's wrong... is that really the truth?  
Nothing wrong with an incorrect opinion (outside that it's not right ^^;) as long as it's stated as an opinion.

[Niteowl]

i always have difficulties with posts about this, since it's probably been debated upon, and gotten a lot more progress, in academic philosophy. we're like a buncha DoD players discussing NS balance.

as an aside, genetics has nothing to do with how you are comfortable in heat, since you were raised in heat. it has to do with aclimatization [sic].  natural selection used to a be a pet favorite idea to discuss, so if ya wanna go that way, lets

[Geminosity]

I think you give academic philosophy too much credit.  I've always thought of it as being a course in reading other people's ideas.  Course, that'd be good for stopping you from covering well-trodden ground and make some ideas quicker to get across by reference to existing theories (using the DoD/NS example out of context it's like saying 'respawn' then when someone asks you can just say "like in DoD" and they'll know what you mean roughly without undue explanation.)

I took in an interest in philosophy a while back and while interesting I don't think the study of it puts your 'ponderings' above anyone elses... it just makes them a little more informed.  After all philosophy by nature is usually devoid of detailed fact and is prominently based more in the misty realms of conjecture =3

It's quite common for people do confuse adaptation with evolution too... the key point for anyone to remember is that evolution/genetics involves reproduction.  Adaptation is the term for when an organism changes to suit it's environment, NS is when those with successful genes continue to live and pass them on to their offspring while lesser suited mutations die off =P

[Niteowl]

I think you give academic philosophy too much credit.  I've always thought of it as being a course in reading other people's ideas. 


Course, that'd be good for stopping you from covering well-trodden ground and make some ideas quicker to get across by reference to existing theories (using the DoD/NS example out of context it's like saying 'respawn' then when someone asks you can just say "like in DoD" and they'll know what you mean roughly without undue explanation.)
 

naw, i'm not giving formal academic philosophy too much credit, i'm more concerned with the well trodden ground thing. and their language is suited to deal with a schwack of ideas we dont' know about/takes along time to explain.

[Lito]

anyways, I've always associated truth with fact to be honest, hence my original post.  That's also why I often get annoyed with people for mistaking their opinions to be facts, because I like to hear the 'truth'.  An opinion that's wrong... is that really the truth? 
Nothing wrong with an incorrect opinion (outside that it's not right ^^;) as long as it's stated as an opinion.

there is no such thing as an "incorrect opinion".  An opinion is an opinion.  Your opinion is your truth, your take.  It can never be wrong, but it can never be right.  Therefore, it cannot be considered as a fact.