09.25.2003
Where
to Begin to Find What is True
So let's first talk about the process of figuring out what is really true about
life and our world. How do we know what to believe? That was the part that I
found the most frustrating, choosing what to believe. It's important to remember
that we do choose what to believe. This may seem like an obvious statement,
and in some ways it is. The choices that we make about what to believe are usually
not made with clear cut information. There is the question of whether the source
of the information is reliable, accurate, or biased. Even one's most trusted
source can be mistaken because every source also has their own perspective.
How we determine what will be considered a fact is subjective since any event
is also subject to the perceptions and biases of the observer relating the event.
As they say, history is in the domain of the victor, meaning what we think we
know was presented by the victor and is therefore inherently biased. That's
a god one to think about. So as we attempt to gain insight through the collection
of facts, we are wisest if we remember that facts may not be as factual as we
may believe.
I believe it is common for us all to see truth as based on factual, objective
information. We also tend to find others who we trust with regard to the matter
we are seeking to understand, with a portion of that trust being derived from
and the level of confidence and authority with which the information is being
presented. Many of us, and this includes me, may find ourselves speaking with
great confidence and authority. Confidence and authority do not equate with
knowledge. I'm sure that many of us have taken advice from others speaking with
great confidence and authority only to find later that they were wrong. A case
in point is the stock market and financial analysts who continually speak with
great authority and yet we find are usually all too often incorrect.
Some things are easily determined to be incorrect. Some are not. So when we
are evaluating information, it's best that we not place much emphasis on the
confidence and sense of authority with which the information is being presented.
It's better to simply take in the new ideas and let our life help us discover
whatever truths reside within the ideas presented. While I deeply believe in
what I am presenting, it is my intention that the ideas presented here be thought
through and compared to the readers own experience and self-knowledge. It's
only by learning to trust ourselves and our ability to comprehend our lives,
that will we have a means by which to uncover what is true for each of us. We
all have had times when life has become confusing and contradictory. We can
become mired within maps that loop around, leading us back to where he began,
wondering what is really the truth. Ultimately we must rely upon our own ability
to determine what is true for us. Know thyself.