Kevin Kuivenhoven
Truth is that which the community ultimately settles down to - Charles Peirce - This quote can be taken many ways. Two of which are from the view points of a being who believes that a group or whole knows better than the individual and someone who is cynically commenting on the simple minded complacency of the human race. For these two people this quote holds extremely different meanings and importance in their lives. For one, it is a reflection of his conservative life, accepting what he is given and not questioning it on the premise, they probably know best. For the other, it is a sad reminder of how she is one of the few thinkers in a sea of people to whom truth is nothing more than the easiest explanation which makes them feel warm and fuzzy inside. Truth is one of, if not the most complex concepts the human brain can handle. Of course the simple explanation of truth defines it as that which is true, the lack of falsity, in accordance with fact, etc. What most people fail to take into account is the creativity of the human mind. Humans have a tendency to turn belief into fact. This creates all sorts of problems. To a Christian, the truth is God exists, while the truth to an Atheist is that no higher power exists. Obviously, two things that blatantly contradict each other cannot both be true. God cannot exist while not existing in a place that exists in the minds of some people and doesn't exist in the minds of other people. Either a higher power of some sort exists or doesn't exist; there is only one truth. These "truths" in the heads of the Christian and the atheist are not actual truths; they are beliefs. Of course someone can believe something true, but just because someone believes something with all their heart does not make it true. A community does not dictate what the truth is or should be. The first subject would view this quote as true. His line of thinking would be that the community or the gathering of people as a whole would undoubtedly be more intelligent and astute in their decisions and judgements than the individual ever could be. This way of thinking quickly becomes dangerous though. It can easily turn the community's beliefs into unquestionable dogma. When this happens and one person or group's views become law, the community turns into a dictatorship. This causes the belief of one to become the truth for all, one reason why I highly disagree with this view of the quote. After all I am almost positive that during WW2 the Jewish population of the German community did not view Hitler's Arian vision as the truth. The second subject would view this quote as almost an individualist slogan. Her line of thinking would place the individual above the group. Unlike subject one, she realizes that not everyone's beliefs agree with each other. Once this is realized, she also determines that since everyone's beliefs contradict each other, no single set of values, morals, or beliefs can be deemed "The universal truth". To this person, this quote addresses several important issues about thinking for yourself and remaining a knower. Her interpretation of the quote would seem more democratic than the Stalin of example one. She a much less superficial approach to the matter. Instead of accepting what is given to her, she examines it and comes to her own conclusion. It is much more difficult to approach life this way and not just "go-along" with everyone else's truth, but as Einstein put it, "He who joyfully marches in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would suffice." There is no one universal truth for any human-bred concept. Love, Justice, Morality, all created by human minds, individuals. These minds created their own definitions of the concepts and their own truths. These truths are all subjective to the mind from which it sprang. Since they are all different, there is not one set truth for everyone. This means that whatever the community settles down to, is their truth, not THE truth. Small isolated groups of people have a very nasty habit of forcing their truth upon others and making them accept it as THE truth. One instance of humans using their truth as a sick justification for mass homicide were the well-known Crusades. One day the invisible man in the sky who loves everyone, decided it was time to take the truth to the Holy Land. Here they spread their knowledge by burning an estimated 11 million ignorant people alive and stealing reclaiming the Holy Land. The truth clearly stated that the land belonged to the English! This is just one of many, many, many countless instances of humans being afraid of being individuals. Humans like subject one, feel a need to ensure that their truth becomes the truth for everyone. Instead of waiting for the community to settle down to their version of the truth, Stalin grabs the truth and crams it down the community's throat. Truth is not what the community settles down to. What the community sees as truth is a mixture between their knowledge of life, their past experiences, their prejudices and biases, and whatever else they need to add to make them feel nice and warm and fuzzy inside. For a large group of people, the attainment of truth as a community is impossible. Even for individuals, the truth is unattainable because it always becomes laced with personal opinion and bias. What it comes down to is for anything other than mathematics, accurate descriptions of events without judgements or opinions added to them, and facts such as: the elephant has a greater physical mass than the mouse, there is not universal truth. There are only individual's and communities' perceptions of the truth. The definition of truth is "in accordance with fact", however humans views, feelings, and beliefs cannot be judged or examined in the same manner as facts. Instead of stemming from logic and science, our human views come from our lives, experiences, and our various mental defects and conditions. Our personal truths are also under a constant barrage of emotions and however we are feeling at the time. Since the various chemicals in our brain induce various reactions, our way of thinking is also effected when these chemicals beat us into submission. We are only human after all, what can we do against these chemicals. Use logic to see through the temporary lapse of sanity? I highly doubt your brain will allow you to do that. In the end though, the truth will be the same for all of us, we will all be dead, well except for me because I am immortal, but anyway, writing this paper and delving deep into the human mind I have further developed and accepted a certain way of thinking. Since there is no one truth that humans can agree upon, as long as individuals do not try to force their truths onto others, the truth does not matter, no matter what we believe to be true, it will not effect the final outcome. In the perfect human society, truth about the universe is obsolete. Since it would not matter what the person next to you believed to be true, humans would not separate into fanatical factions with their own twisted views of it. Of course when I say truth is obsolete, the truth I am referring to is the more abstract concept of it, such as the truth of what is good or what is morale. Facts are still important, but they have been true all along. The one truth I am aware of right now, is that it is 2 a.m. and my paper is quickly losing cohesion among its many ideas..
