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Thoughts from the Evil Galaxy

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Posts posted by Thoughts from the Evil Galaxy

    "Sin"

    in Internet Cafe

    Posted

    Excellent essay to me on "truth"

     

    http://www.brandondalby.com/truth.htm

     

    ===============

     

                            There are many things that happen in the world, but not everyone observes things in the same way and not all events lead people to the same truth conclusions.  So in some sense, "truth" is relative.  Or rather, some truth is relative.  However, there are also a great many events in the world that lead everyone to identical truth conclusions.  In this brief essay, I detail my view of truth, and try to shed some light on the question of....."what is truth?"

     

      RELATIVE TRUTH - 

     

        Music and art are great examples of "relative" truth.  One person can hear a song and hear an artistic mess whereas another can listen to the same song and hear artistic mastery.  Since art and music are subjective expressions, there is no empirical way of proving a song is either "good" or "bad".  Popular opinion (like the Top 40) can certainly indicate a consensus regarding what kind of music people find appealing, but the fact that different kinds of music genres make the top 10 proves that even among the consensus, there is no uniform consensus. 

     

        Another example of relative truth is "food".  I may like chocolate ice cream while you may like vanilla.  There is no true "right" or "wrong", correct or incorrect answer.  There is no way I could prove that it is "true" chocolate ice cream is better than vanilla just as there is no way you could prove the inverse.  There is no scientific test we can conduct to empirically measure the "yummy-ness" of ice cream, or any other food.

     

    So food and art are appropriate examples of "relative truth".

        OBJECTIVE TRUTH - 

     

        There are also a great many things in the world that we all observe in the same way.  The events and experiences that we all share identically are what form the basis for objective truth.  For example, every human that touches a fire experiences the same thing - an extreme sensation of HOT, and/or a severe skin burn.  Therefore, that fire "burns" and is "hot" is an objective truth.  Its not a matter of opinion; its a condition of reality.

     

    Another objective truth is that the moon is round.  When we look at the moon, we all see the same thing.  A circle.  While the actually word for "circle" changes from language to language, it still means the same thing.  While our words that describe the condition of reality change, the condition of reality itself (the moon's shape) does not.

     

    So the hotness of fire and the circularity of the moon are both examples of objective truth.

     

        MY VIEW - 

     

          We live in a world that is mixed with both relative and objective truth.  Not all truth is relative, and not all things that are true for us are true for everyone.  I disagree with the general precepts of the philosophy of "relativism" because it denies that objective truth exists.  But the very statement - "all truth is relative", would also be relative, which causes the very meaning of the statement to negate itself.  Relativists fail to see this glaring self-contradiction in their own philosophy.  On the other side, there are a great number of people in the world who insist their own subjective "truths", are in fact, OBJECTIVE truth.  This is where religious/philosophical fanatics fall into error.  They miscall relative truth "objective truth", and consequently create needless division, strife, and sometimes death in the world.  When we become passionate about our ideas and opinions, we must be careful not to fall in to this error.  We must always discern objective truth from subjective truth.

     

    Correctly discerning between objective truth and relative truth is a life-long learning experience that we all face....... and it can get tricky sometimes, especially when it regards morality / religion.

    Well said soapmom, I'm afraid it falls on many deaf ears and idle minds. I liked it though... :) :) :)

    "Sin"

    in Internet Cafe

    Posted

    OK, I tap out.  I just figured it out.  I'm arguing truth agaist people who don't beleive in an absolute truth.  To you all truth is whatever each individual person believes it is. 

    I guess this is our ultimate disagreement.  Truth.  which brings us back to our beginning topic...sin.  Who therefor can determin what is sin if there can be no absolute truth to counter act sin.  Do you not believe there must be a ying to a yang? 

    What a grey, grey world we are living in.

    People believe what they want to believe, that belief is the center of their existence, and in doubting their belief you threaten their fragile little realities. Who are you to tell them they are wrong *sarcasm*, no matter what evidence is put before them, they will simply twist it to their needs or refuse to believe it at all. Better to worry about the Kilingons I say... old Star Trek joke. ;) ;) ;)

    He almost got me AGAIN!

    in General Countywide News (archive)

    Posted

    As long as the dog is friendly, it's a somebodies wonderful pet to be loved on and carried back to it's home, unfriendly and aggressive? Target practice... with the blessing of the local law enforcement and animal control, I might add. After which said target will be neatly wrapped in plastic and tossed out my car widow as I drive by the owners house at 80mph, it should be a spectacular event! :o :o :o

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