Truth
Is there such thing as an objective truth? I wonder every day.
Food for thought to digest: https://www.reddit.com/r/askphilosophy/comments/212z0w/what_is_wrong_with_the_claim_that_science_is_the/
I thought/think that one of my life goals to is pursue seeking the “truth”.
It’s not about being right, but being less wrong.
That’s why I love Learning, there is the intrinsic joy of learning and this thing of getting closer to the truth.
The pursuit of truth is what defines Important Work. Truth is what makes a work or another important?
From Systemic Racism Article:
- We associate truth with convenience, with what most closely accords with self-interest and personal well-being or promises best to avoid awkward effort or unwelcome dislocation of life.
- We also find highly acceptable what contributes most to self-esteem. Economic and social behaviours, Galbraith continued, “are complex, and to comprehend their character is mentally tiring. Therefore we adhere, as though to a raft, to those ideas which represent our understanding.”
Bryan Johnson on Truth: “The deeper you go into a given thing, the closer you get to the (I don’t want to call it the truth because I don’t know if there is such a thing as a truth), but there are the 5 Levels of”
Every time you down a layer, you increase the level of precision. I’ve learned to never accept the first level/statement of a given thing. There are always a few levels to dig. And even then, you’re not even certain you’ve landed, you’re just probably in a better spot than where you’ve started.
Nature of Truth
I’ve been thinking recently about how can we acquire truth? I feel like I’ve been an Empiricist my entire life.
From ChatGPT
- Empiricism: Empiricists argue that all knowledge and truth ultimately derive from experience. They believe that knowledge is acquired through sensory perception, observation, and empirical evidence. According to this view, truth is limited to what can be directly observed or inferred from observations.
- Rationalism: Rationalists hold that some truths can be known independently of experience through reason alone. They argue that certain truths, such as mathematical and logical principles, are self-evident and do not require empirical evidence for their validation.
- Constructivism: Constructivists propose that truth is constructed by individuals or societies based on their subjective experiences, cultural contexts, and social interactions. According to this perspective, truth is not solely derived from objective observations but is influenced by subjective interpretations.
- Transcendentalism: Transcendentalists posit that there are truths that are beyond empirical experience and cannot be directly observed or measured. They suggest that there may be truths that exist in realms inaccessible to ordinary sensory perception.
Ways to get to truth
Two questions to ask your yourself: (taken from Destiny note)
- What would it take to change my mind?
- Look for information that is contrary to what you believe
Ask “why” (from Carol, my San Antonio Airbnb host). Question people’s motivation. Why are they telling you what they’re telling you?
The Pursuit of Truth / Knowledge
Why is pursuing truth important? Why can’t we all just live in Ignorance?
Oftentimes, in the pursuit of truth, you just get more confused and lost.
NO, you gather more and more knowledge about the world. And Knowledge is Power. When you know more about the world, you are more informed about how to act. You get an increase in precision. In decision-making.
Else, for example, you don’t really know whether wearing a mask is good or not for you.
With power, you can do anything.
Types of Truths
Below is sort of a categorization of the truths that exist in society that I have come up with.
Existential Truth
What is the meaning of life? Why are we here? Religion has an answer for this truth.
Scientific Truth
Scientific truths are like: what makes up a healthy diet? Why does being fat increase (or not) your aging rate?
Psychological Truth?
“I am aware of the possibility of encountering interpretations of my IAT test performance with which I may not agree. Knowing this, I wish to proceed”.
Political Truth / Truth in an Argument
Note
Logical reasoning isn’t about “winning” an argument. It’s about finding the truth. And inevitably, getting closer to truth requires one to recognize and admit when they’re wrong. And that’s something you, me, and all the Rons of the world could be a bit better at. Source
Programming Truth: Source of Truth is in Code
“The source of truth is in code. It’s not the slides. You get to see it in action. Which is why you shouldn’t rely too much on the slides. You should just try to get code to work.” - Andrej Karpathy
This is how you build Intuition, Pieter Abbeel also has a similar idea through teaching CS287 by making us write proofs for a few fundamental ideas.
Emotional Truth: The Truth Hurts Sometimes
Especially things like post-breakups, emotional truths, these things can really hurt you. I’ve been thinking quite a bit about whether pursuing the truth is wroth it, because considering the Pain is so much man.
Because sometimes it’s more painful to know the truth than not to know it.
But after some research, I saw this quote:
Note
In the long run, the most unpleasant truth is a safer companion than a pleasant falsehood.
Telling the truth and making someone cry is better than telling a lie to make someone laugh.
Better to get hurt by the truth than comforted with a lie.
Truth hurts, but what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.
But that is the same idea as Vulnerability, and handling Rejection. On the other side of Rejection is possibility. Opportunities. But maybe also more Pain, Insecurity, Fear.
Why is it better to get hurt by the truth than being comforted by a lie? Taken from Reddit.
Because after you’re comforted by the lie, the truth will hurt even more when it comes out.