Our perception of truth

[TheWerebison]

So, I was lying in bed, trying to fall asleep (which is where I come up with a lot of thoughts like these), when a thought occurred to me: why is it that the average person believes they know what the truth of a matter is?

Let's take an example; let's say a suicide, or a homicide, occurs somewhere. The police run an investigation, and although many of their observations may be accurate about motive and circumstance, none of them will ever know exactly what happened, what thoughts were running through the victim's head. Not 100%, anyway. So then the police take their data, and they CHOOSE what to give to the media. The media, in turn, chooses how much of that information to give to the public, within a very limited time frame, AND how best to spin the story, usually opting for sensationalism and something to hook viewers. A person then watches the story, and finally combines it with personal experiences, any knowledge they may or may not have about related topics, and their own personal beliefs, to come up with their own perception of what has actually happened.

Based on this and other very similar circumstances, how can most of us be so bold as to believe we know what the truth of any situation is that we were not personally involved in?

[Liara]

Believing you know the truth about something that you factually can't know the truth about is arrogant. You may believe you have a general idea, but not doubting yourself for a second is classic arrogance.

There are some things I know for a fact that they are absolutely true, such as 1+1=2, or that my dog is a German Shepard. But I'll never claim to know the truth about something that I learned about through the media.

[vizzle]

Because we like to form opinions and we know that there is no way we could be given all the possible information, so we work with what we have. It would be silly to never have an opinion because you don't know every single detail, because that's not something that'll happen. And those we are discussing issues with should realize that what we believe as truth is a product of the information that has been given to us, thus, possibly wrong.

[Adam Jensen]

Believing you know the truth about something that you factually can't know the truth about is arrogant. You may believe you have a general idea, but not doubting yourself for a second is classic arrogance.

There are some things I know for a fact that they are absolutely true, such as 1+1=2, or that my dog is a German Shepard. But I'll never claim to know the truth about something that I learned about through the media.

Ah, but how do you know that your dog is really a German Shepard and not a Chihuahua in disguise?

[Maelle]

Ah, but how do you know that your dog is really a German Shepard and not a Chihuahua in disguise?

Sounds like the kind of thing I say to wind-up my partner sometimes....

Ah! but you can't PROVE that can you?

[Liara]

Ah, but how do you know that your dog is really a German Shepard and not a Chihuahua in disguise?

Because she hates Chihuahuas, and so do I

[Duridi]

Most people aren't capable of seeing things from a different angle than their own, or have a very limited angle. That's proven again and again on these forums, to take that as an example.

I also believe many people that do try to see things from a lot of possible angles, keep quiet a lot. Because they can't be bothered to get into a discussion with people that they might feel is to narrow-minded to possibly grasp what they are trying to say. That's how I experience it atleast.

[Anakso]

Ah, but how do you know that your dog is really a German Shepard and not a Chihuahua in disguise?

We got my first dog from a pet store. They claimed my dog was Lab X Great Dane but every vet we took her to said she looked part ridgeback. So breed of my dog was something I was never sure about! D:

I know many truths but the truth about media related stories isn't one of them, mostly because I don't watch the news. The news presenters always annoy me in some way.

[haxartus]

We don't know the truth about situations we are personally involved with, let alone the ones that we aren't involved with.

[Deleted]

the only thing i know for sure is that religion is fake and we are our own gods.

<Infracted>

[0smo]

Believing you know the truth about something that you factually can't know the truth about is arrogant. You may believe you have a general idea, but not doubting yourself for a second is classic arrogance.

There are some things I know for a fact that they are absolutely true, such as 1+1=2, or that my dog is a German Shepard. But I'll never claim to know the truth about something that I learned about through the media.

this is quite bs...

there is no truth because reality is a point of view
1+1=2 is not a truth its a transendance , wich means thats although you cant proof it, you blindly believe it (because stuff like math words for certain things etc get spoonfed into you since birth)

believing 1+1=2 is teh same as a christian that believes god excist

there is no proof there is no disproof

also your german shepard isnt a german shepard, because no german shepards are alike, it a chosen name for a part of a spiecies (go read darwin)
so your dog because of the looks is german shepardish but thats still tweaky

[Knight Gil]

Better question: What means truth?

[Liara]

this is quite bs...

there is no truth because reality is a point of view
1+1=2 is not a truth its a transendance , wich means thats although you cant proof it, you blindly believe it (because stuff like math words for certain things etc get spoonfed into you since birth)

believing 1+1=2 is teh same as a christian that believes god excist

there is no proof there is no disproof

also your german shepard isnt a german shepard, because no german shepards are alike, it a chosen name for a part of a spiecies (go read darwin)
so your dog because of the looks is german shepardish but thats still tweaky

I love how you call my post bullshit, yet go on to claim that because no two creatures are alike (what you meant to say was "exactly the same"), that means that there is no such thing as a species. Well done.

[heheMongot]

this is quite bs...

there is no truth because reality is a point of view
1+1=2 is not a truth its a transendance , wich means thats although you cant proof it, you blindly believe it (because stuff like math words for certain things etc get spoonfed into you since birth)

believing 1+1=2 is teh same as a christian that believes god excist

there is no proof there is no disproof

also your german shepard isnt a german shepard, because no german shepards are alike, it a chosen name for a part of a spiecies (go read darwin)
so your dog because of the looks is german shepardish but thats still tweaky

Take an apple, now add another apple. You now have two apples. 1+1=2. When you drop something it's pulled towards the ground. Try this as many times as you'd like and it will still be correct. This is much different than believing in god.

[Tastyfish]

When people used to ask me what was truth, I would respond: When you can be totally honest with yourself, you ask why. Keep asking why until you cannot ask why anymore. You have to be creative, you have to think. You might have to test it against other peoples intellect, but your goal will be to reach a point where you no longer can ask why. You will know you have it because there will be nothing left, and it will be able to stand bare in front of you. That is the closest to the truth you can get if you are looking for it.
Tho most of us just are satisfied with our delusions, projections and accusations.

---------- Post added 2012-07-28 at 12:46 PM ----------

Take an apple, now add another apple. You now have two apples. 1+1=2. When you drop something it's pulled towards the ground. Try this as many times as you'd like and it will still be correct. This is much different than believing in god.

You have many more then just two apples... Apples have seeds which create apples. The truth is you have MANY MANY More apples in your hands then just two :P

[Liara]

You have many more then just two apples... Apples have seeds which create apples. The truth is you have MANY MANY More apples in your hands then just two :P

Potential future apples do not count

[0smo]

@liara plz go read a bit more and i dont mean forums
what i say is basicly what darwin and other famous scientist say

you call your dog a dog or even more specific a shepard dog, because at a certain point we named them... but no dog is alike. so if we had more words or ppl decided different in that day it could be called something else like shepperdi dog (because left leg is black i dunno)

spies? yes kinda, i mean who was the first to say yeah thats a mamal and y thats a insect etc... they thought up words to explain without seeing/showing
but its still not a fact its a word wich gives us a idea about a thing

@hehemongot

1+1 is thought up by humans and you believe it because you get it in school etc. but its not a fact its a believe we work on,
gravity is not a truth its a mathematical explenation how it works on this planet, wich in terms is done with self thought up stuff like words numbers to make it transparent in understanding. take your truth to pluto and it because incorrect untill you rework the maths/words to explain it

if you would be shelterd from birth and you get spoonfed that 1+1=6 and we put you and me in a mri scan, both the same parts of the brain will light up if we get asked if 1+1=2 and 1+1=6 are true

this is trencendance, believing in something so hard you take it for truth without full proof or disprovement

[Liara]

@liara plz go read a bit more and i dont mean forums
what i say is basicly what darwin and other famous scientist say

you call your dog a dog or even more specific a shepard dog, because at a certain point we named them... but no dog is alike. so if we had more words or ppl decided different in that day it could be called something else like shepperdi dog (because left leg is black i dunno)

spies? yes kinda, i mean who was the first to say yeah thats a mamal and y thats a insect etc... they thought up words to explain without seeing/showing
but its still not a fact its a word wich gives us a idea about a thing].

Truth is a man made concept, therefore to us, it exists. And plenty of animals are alike. Alike means similar, not identical.
So yes, my dog is a German Shepard. And yes, 1+1=2. And no, it's not the same as believing in God.

And don't be an idiot. Without words we wouldn't be able to express anything. Words are just a medium of conveying what we want to express. According to your logic, there is no such thing as a fact, because it's just a word.

[Kalis]

@liara plz go read a bit more and i dont mean forums
what i say is basicly what darwin and other famous scientist say

you call your dog a dog or even more specific a shepard dog, because at a certain point we named them... but no dog is alike. so if we had more words or ppl decided different in that day it could be called something else like shepperdi dog (because left leg is black i dunno)

spies? yes kinda, i mean who was the first to say yeah thats a mamal and y thats a insect etc... they thought up words to explain without seeing/showing
but its still not a fact its a word wich gives us a idea about a thing

@hehemongot

1+1 is thought up by humans and you believe it because you get it in school etc. but its not a fact its a believe we work on,
gravity is not a truth its a mathematical explenation how it works on this planet, wich in terms is done with self thought up stuff like words numbers to make it transparent in understanding. take your truth to pluto and it because incorrect untill you rework the maths/words to explain it

if you would be shelterd from birth and you get spoonfed that 1+1=6 and we put you and me in a mri scan, both the same parts of the brain will light up if we get asked if 1+1=2 and 1+1=6 are true

this is trencendance, believing in something so hard you take it for truth without full proof or disprovement

If you are taught that 1+1=6, then that is correct, as long as your understanding of 6 is that it is our equivalent of 2. If you are taught that 1+1=6, but you are also taught than 6 is greater than 5, then 1+1=6 is wrong.

I can demonstrate that 1+1=2 in any language or system, as long as I know what symbols are used.

Gravity is a truth, it can be applied to any circumstance. Gravity on Earth = Gravity on Pluto is wrong, but Gravity isn't fixed, whereas 1+1 is.

[Deleted]

"the only thing i know for sure is that religion is fake and we are our own gods.", how the fuck can i be banned becouse of writing my opinion,