Truth is defined by our beliefs, but how do we define those?
Our thoughts and beliefs, all too often, are inherited and generational. As T.S. Kuhn said of new discoveries in science, “A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it.”
This has been the basis and reasoning behind my internal urge to discover the “truth” for myself. I’ve wanted to uncover a framework that “explained everything,” instead of just relying on what those before me decided was correct. But what is truth, other than something we believe to be 100% accurate in our own lives.
If truth must be based on our own belief system, then: Truth can never be universal and is only as accurate as the belief of the observer allows it to be.
Common truths are only so because the majority of people agree that they are true. We see this in science, policy, religion, and just about everywhere else, constantly. When the majority decides that something else is true, then it must be so—even if we have to wait for an older generation to die to make it that way.
It’s important to respect our ancestors, but to understand that their belief systems and truths were based on the limited knowledge of their space/time reality. Belief is always in flux, truth is ever-changing.
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