HOW TO DISCOVER TRUTH (a few lingering thoughts)
After 6 decades of trying to make sense of life, the world and everything. I came to a dead end.
DIFFERENT POV.
So, I started from a different point of view.
Here was the old way: Trust what you are told.
Here is the new way: Whatever you are told, the truth is likely the opposite.
I find I am far less confused. So much more makes sense now.
Is it a perfect solution to the problem of “what is truth?” No. There is no perfect solution (see later).
Think of all the things you are told:
Big bang theory, when they don’t really know what causes black holes and other space phenomena (if you’ve read the conflicting articles about such you know why I said that).
Public schools are great, when clear headed thought will tell you that the maximum number of children who can be effectively taught by a one teacher is about 3 or 4.
People evolved from simpler creatures, when we have few (if any) examples of such among advanced life forms (not one humanoid has emerged from a “monkey patch” in 6000 years of recorded history, nor has any monkey developed a larger brain, etc.) [Pseudo scientists will now erupt, I predict.]
My political party is better, when both are awful.
Slavery was wrong HERE in America, but it is still happening in other parts of the world and we don’t care even a little.
War is the way to win, when we know that war always causes incredible loss.
Telling children they might be trans has no impact on their choices, but advertising works.
There is nothing we can do to slow the movement of illegals (guests, beminted ones, or whatever the accepted word is this week), while some cities and states want to provide housing, medical care, food, money, and cell phones.
COVID will kill you if you go to work or church, but now we treat it like a mere flu.
Our cars must run on batteries to save the planet, while China is free to build coal-burning electric facilities to power their industries and that’s OK?
The list is endless.
CLEAR COFFEE.
In another vein, how to get rid of plastics found in water (and, thus, coffee). Multiple scare tactics have been used recently to frighten us into thinking plastics in our environment are dangerous. That’s the implication, but they never say that. There is a reason they don’t. It has not been proved. Secondly, some “plastics” are naturally occurring particles. Only a small fraction actually come from water bottles or plastic straws (which they imply as the culprits). About 40% of the “plastics” in your local water supply and the air come from a common source … tires. Heavy EVs produce more tire waste than conventional vehicles. The only ways to reduce tire waste is to reduce travel and/or drive lighter gasoline vehicles.
Oh, yah! The coffee! There is a simple way to eliminate the oils and small particles in the coffee (or water) you drink. Look it up HERE .
PERSONAL PREFERENCES.
Nowhere is it written that you have the right to your own preferences. It is an advertising gimmick, not a truism. “Have it your way…” and “The customer is always right.” are advertising. Come to MY store and you can get it your way. But in reality most of the time you can’t have it your way. Sure! If you are insanely rich you can afford to have it exactly your way all the time. That’s the point. Your way is very expensive and often rude. Just settle down and be reasonable. There are 23,482 people who want an orange peeler. The company cannot afford to make them in every color of the rainbow so everyone can get the one in the color they like, nor can they make them in 17 size increments to satisfy every potential customer. So, they make one size fits all in 3 colors, black, white, and orange. Choose one of those or go home empty-handed. That’s the painful truth.
With that in mind sometimes the right way to do something has been in front of your face all along. You can do it the right way, or you can do it the wrong way. Some people don’t care at all. Too bad! There IS often a right way to do things. Take toilet paper. Over or under? It doesn’t surprise me at all to learn that it was CREATED (circa 1891) and advertised when it was created to be OVER. It rolls off the tube easier with fewer problems when set up for over (unless you have a dumb holder which refuses to cooperate, and why would you?) Such a simple thing, yet marriages have been broken up over it. Plus, I hate searching repeatedly for the end that is hanging down the back and impossible to find without scrolling it to the front (over).
That jar lid will not come off if you turn it to the right. You have no choice. It comes off only if you turn it left. Just ask for them to sell you a jar of peanut butter which opens the other way! You won’t get it your way. Your choices are “crunchy or smooth.” Cheaper or “organic” (a mostly meaningless term if you look up how the US government defines it…it doesn’t mean “pesticide-free” if that’s what you’re thinking).
It seems that the truth is found in what is found commonly in the world. Adding more and more taxes for the rich results in fewer rich. Then who will they tax? The truth is obvious. They are coming for YOU next. You have $200,000 in savings…which means YOU are now “the rich.” You have your own home, so you are now “the rich.” It has ALWAYS worked that way everywhere it has been tried because it is the natural progression of progressive taxation. It may not be comfortable, but … logic wins. You are on a strict personal budget and can’t always afford what you want. Strict budgeting is based on truth. So… what is government budgeting based on? I’m not being political, just logical.
Truth is logical. Truth is restrictive. Truth means “you can’t always get what you want.” The world and especially politics (both parties) is almost always wrong. It is “almost” because of two things: One, even a liar will occasionally make a human mistake and tell the truth. Two, even a broken analog clock is right twice a day.
[Reminder: Be looking for a short story just before Good Friday about failure and forgiveness.]
[PLEASE NOTE that Don is always open to discussing the thoughts and opinions he shares here and welcomes comments as shared in the comment section. He doesn’t use other social media platforms and won’t see whatever you’d like to share with him if you post it elsewhere. ~ Sherry]
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The illustration makes it clear how 2 people who have differing opinions can both be right. However, when you find the truth, you also find the falseness of those opinions. The three blind men reported, “An elephant is like a rope, a tree trunk, and a wall.”
Reading an article elsewhere yesterday, I exclaimed “they are using a circular argument.” They were and it could not be unseen once revealed. I wonder how many readers caught it?
Probably not many; you have a way of observing the world – and then describing your observations – unlike anyone else I’ve ever met!