QUESTIONS ABOUT THE TRUTH: PART 2

G L E N N M A RT I NS E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 6

INTRODUCTIONThis is the second set of slides on the question of “truth”. It seeks to face some of the questions that were left hanging in the first set.Essentially, the first set of slides aimed at clearing the deck. It discussed and distinguished between the different ways in which we use the word “truth”.Much of the time when we say “truth”, it is in the sense of the truth, or the reality, about something in the material or emotional world. Jesus and John Keats both raise more difficult questions:

“Beauty is truth, and truth is beauty.” (John Keats) “I am the way, the truth and the light.” (Jesus)

What are they talking about (if we accept that they may be talking about something that makes sense and is important)?

THE TRUTH: (1) ….AND NOT-TRUTHMost commonly, we use the word “truth” as a counter-point to all that is not-truth.The opposite of “the truth” is a lie, an attempt at deceit, or simply something that is mistaken.So far, this is straightforward.For example: “Where were you last night? Tell me the truth.”

[Although, as the image suggests, truth and not-truth are mirror images, and the relationship between them is often complex and dynamic rather than a simple dichotomy.]

TRUTH ≠ KNOWLEDGE

Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt disappeared in the sea at

Cheviot Beach in Victoria on 17 December 1967.

Note: In some cases, we may not be able to establish certainty about what the truth is, but we accept that there is a set of facts that is the truth about the situation (eg What happened to the Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt?).

THE TRUTH: (2) PERSPECTIVESOne answer to the question: “What is truth?” is that people have different perspectives on it.Without sight, with just the evidence of touch, I conclude that the creature is like a snake; you conclude it is like a mat, or a spear or a wall, depending on the evidence from your perspective (vantage point).In this case the reality is the same – it is an elephant; it’s just that you and I can only know (see) certain things from where we are standing.

THE TRUTH: (3) IMPORTANCEAnother answer rests on the idea that humans speak in metaphors much more than they generally recognise. When John Keats says “Beauty is truth”, perhaps he is really saying that beauty is what’s most important in life. In the same way,

peace is truth,love is truth.

Accordingly, we can say that “Boy looking at Mount Fuji” is an expression of truth, or peace, or beauty.What we mean is that these things are of pre-eminent importance in life.

THE TRUTH: (4) DEEP TRUTHSometimes when we talk about truth, we may be contrasting surface truth with deep truth.Surface truth is day-to-day truth related to the everyday world: the sun came up; it rained today; the music was loud….We can reach agreement on such things, often quite easily.Deep truth is like Jack Kerouac saying “The only truth is music”. He is not talking about surface truth; he is referring to something deeper. What can we say about “deep truth”?

o It is beyond words, or at least, it cannot be exhaustively expressed in words.

o It implies resonance – the feeling generated inside us resonates with something that is outside us, or beyond us.

o It brings us into oneness with what is outside us. It implies that we “just know”.

UNPACKING MICHAEL LYNCHRecall what Michael Lynch said (True to Life, MIT Press, 2004):“We have conflicting beliefs about truth; sometimes we think it is discovered, sometimes knowable, sometimes mysterious.”We’ve talked about truth as discoverable, or knowable. Do we need a category for truth that is mysterious? Or is this simply what we mean by deep truth?

TRUTH AND MYSTERY

“There are two kinds of truth. One kind consists of statements so simple and clear that the opposite assertion obviously could not be defended. The other kind, the so-called 'deep truths', are statements in which the opposite also contains deep truth.” Niels Bohr, physicistThis sounds crazy, but we do have a category called paradox. It cries out for an example. What could it be?

EXAMPLE: TRUTH AND PARADOX

TRUTH: MORE THAN PARADOX

However, although the concept of paradox extends our horizons, ultimately it is not enough; we need more.We want to know more about the nature of this truth that is deep and which may be paradoxical.There are two realms to explore:1. Truth in relation to the physical

world (matter and energy)2. Truth in relation to the world of

human experience.

QUANTUM PHYSICS AND TRUTHWhat is the message of quantum physics?“The message of quantum physics is that not only is there no absolute space or time, but that reality extends beyond space-time. Metaphorically speaking, space-time is just the ‘tip of the iceberg’: below the surface is a vast, unseen world of possibility.” - Ruth KastnerPossibility

CULTURE AND TRUTHI am the wind which breathes upon the sea,I am the wave of the ocean,I am the murmur of the billows,I am the ox of the seven combats,I am the vulture upon the rock,I am a beam of the sun,I am the fairest of plants,I am a wild boar in valour,I am a salmon in the water,I am a lake in the plain,I am a word of science,I am the point of the lance in battle,I am the God who creates in the head the fire.Who is it who throws light into the meeting on the mountain?Who announces the ages of the moon?Who teaches the place where couches the sun?(Amergin: Chant as the first ancestors of the Irish people stepped ashore)

Quantum physics is one thing; the other thing is culture (that is, human community). In the latter realm we accept that the vehicle for truth is experience, which is often mediated best through song and poetry.

REALISATIONThe Irish poem/song embodies the assertion: “I am”, many times. The tension is this: (1) the truth is something given – it is out there, and it is as it is.(2) Or, the truth is as we make it: If I am the wave of the ocean, I will roll onward. If I am the point of the lance in battle, I will impale those who stand against me. Clearly, our intention is significant in all of this. Not so clearly, our understanding is likewise significant. It impinges upon, it has an effect upon, reality. We are left with our choices. Not what we thought. We thought that the facts were determinative.

TRUTH AND OUR PART IN ITThe objective approach to matters of personal truth cannot shed any light upon that which is most essential to a person's life. (Kierkegaard)

SHRUTIS: The Revealing Science of God can be seen as an ever-opening flower in which simple truths emerge examining the complexities and magic of the past and how we should not forget the song that has been left to us to hear. The knowledge of God is a search, constant and clear. [Comment on music album “Tales from Topographic Oceans,” by Yes]

“We won’t render our song clearer.” Jon Anderson, Yes

TRUTH AND ETHICS

Corollary: What we think about truth affects how we think about ethics. Ethics is not a given of the universe, it is a choice, a commitment (a view expressed by Albert Schweitzer). Nature is nature; ethics is not self-evident. Ethics is a choice to have faith in the proposition that the best thing we can do is to serve the well-being of the whole, of all-that-is.Our understanding of the nature of the universe, or in the absence of understanding, our faith, leads to our stance towards ethics.

The work of Glenn Martin24 July 2016www.glennmartin.com.au

Tomorrow, the truth will still be the truth, but I may think differently.