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I Like Philosophy

There are a million truths not just one.. what may be true for one person, may not be true for another.. and what may be true today for one person, may not be true tomorrow for that same person.. so truth is never just black or white..

Facts on the other hand are black and white, right or wrong.. where confusion arises though is when people think that opinion is fact, or where facts are made up/altered/manipulated...

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in10RjFox · M

Yeah. A great subject that must be introduced from primary school, so children learn to contemplate and argue from young age.

Truth is nothing but a hypothesis. Truth can never be obviated or can be made apparent, for it is the inner that maketh the outer. Fact is just an observation or a snapshot of the truth while it is in motion. So just a glimpse of truth, but never the whole.

Happymedium · 56-60, F

I read once....
Your perception is your reality.
Yes!
Isn't that the truth.

Facts! Yes!
If you just step back and look at the facts.

It all sounds so easy.

Whiterosesociety

@Happymedium too much solipsism in pop culture

Happymedium · 56-60, F

@Whiterosesociety
🤔sadly true

Justenjoyit · 61-69, M

@Happymedium so your truth is different to my truth 😀

Alfred22

Theories of truth tend to fall into three heaps: Eliminate it and just say It is a spade! We don't need to say "It is true that that is a spade."

What works in language is true. So, calling that object a spade might work fine to get you to bring it to me. ADD, bring me that spade! You regard it as a shovel but context reveals to you what I want. So, for the purpose of holding it I can call it a spade and that works so it is true.

When language corresponds to the world, it is true. This is my personal preference but the correspondence relation is very hard to describe. The cat is on the mat. A traditional example is said to be true when it corresponds to the situation on the mat. And what does that come to. Well, a cat being on the mat. What is that? Sometimes new entities are introduced like "states of affairs." They hold or obtain or are real. Then we can say that The cat is on the mat. is true when the state of affairs of there being a cat on the mat obtains, holds, or exists.

These complexities lead to giving up the notion of truth. (The first approach)

Adaydreambeliever · 56-60, F

@Alfred22 That's a very interesting perspective! I had not linked it to language specifically, but I can see how that can make things even more complex regarding truth.

Abstraction · 61-69, M

Here you mean by 'truths' our perception of reality.
And by 'facts', reality as it is. (I'm translating this for my own purposes.)

The challenge with 'truths' is that even our perception of simple facts is just a useful approximation - often completely workable.
But when we scale up an entire set of perceptions, generalisations, some beliefs, coupled with cognitive errors such as logical erros, confirmation bias, subconscious prejudices - we end up with pointless and sometimes nasty bun fights on SW.

The other challenge:
Everyone is entitled to an opinion. But opinions aren't all equal. There are two types of opinions:
1. Non-verifiable - I don't like the purple carpet. No-one can argue, they can only have their own opinion. Here opinions are equal.
2. Verifiable - An opinion that covid-19 is not real and is part of a conspiracy by the Deep State, with no evidence at all to support it - is NOT equal to those who support the perspective of medical science.

Adaydreambeliever · 56-60, F

@Abstraction That's a pretty accurate way of summing it up!

Reject · 26-30, M

Facts are restricted to human perception which is notoriously limited. Even those can only hold so much truth.

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Reject · 26-30, M

@Adaydreambeliever As of right now. At this current year, month, day, hour, minute, second, moment. You are right. I just hope nobody thinks that the present is all there is. One should certainly use current facts, I’d have it no other way, but see their flaws, I assure you, they are there.

Adaydreambeliever · 56-60, F

@Reject Agreed and thank you for an interesting and engaging conversation. It's rare on here and much appreciated.

Reject · 26-30, M

@Adaydreambeliever Happy I was enjoyable company today! It was nice to talk at length about philosophical matters. It’s a fun topic. Feelings mutual. ♥️

in10RjFox · M

From my journey into philosophy .. I found that truth never appears naked... for it always has a sheath of false over it.. Like how chocolates comes with a wrapper to protect it, truth always has a wrapper of lie over it... for it is lie that gives body or form to the truth ..

Facts are nothing but a photographs or a picture of falsity, which can never reveal the truth inside.

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in10RjFox · M

@Adaydreambeliever Its not something that we can reach an agreement on quite easily .. Its a deep subject and to gain the same perspective is not easy .. The eternal truth is that "truth is always inside and within" .. like atom is truth for matter, and nucleus is truth for atom .. And fact is what is obvious or outside, but we can keep digging deeper for ever .. but can never reach the ultimate, for that too is made up of something ..

All facts are not truth, but needs investigation. Like all that glitters is not gold, all facts need investigation.

So there are no millions of truth, but millions of perspective or opinions for the same phenomenon. Like 1+1 = 2 is arithmetic, but 1+1 is a bigger ONE in philosophy.

Adaydreambeliever · 56-60, F

@in10RjFox Agreed that it's hard to reach consensus. That's kinda what philosophy is about, debating, and accepting that there's no one all encompassing truth. I believe facts and truth are often quite different things.

in10RjFox · M

@Adaydreambeliever yup .. it's a never ending journey of explorations.

Piper · 61-69, F

I mostly agree with you're saying there, I think. I know for certain that one or more people can see, hear, or read the exact same thing...and have very different perceptions of it. Each person feels that it is their perception that is the truth.

I know there are facts that can not be at all reasonably disputed. I also know that much of what I see or hear people proclaim as "truth", is most definitely only their own perception of it.

SW-User

"We do not see things as they are, we see them as we are" ...Anais Nin

Adaydreambeliever · 56-60, F

@SW-User very cool and of course very true! Who we are changes according to our mood, our circumstances, our knowledge etc.

Peaches · F

I agree. 😏

Success · 26-30, F

Truth is truth. It doesn't vary from one person to another. Only perception does.

Adaydreambeliever · 56-60, F

@Success I get what you are saying and why you say it.. .but I think it depends on our definition of truth.. there are some truths that are universal truths.. these are probably facts rather than truths..

Then there's perception of truth.. and that does vary, which is what you are saying in a way..

Success · 26-30, F

@Adaydreambeliever

This is the proper relationship:

(1) Mundane truths = mundane facts

(2) Absolute truth = non-factual status

This is because the production of facts is contributory and subservient to a greater discipline in reason.

This message was deleted by its author.

JohnOinger · 41-45, M

Adaydreambeliever So what do you think of Mike Colter And Would You Do Him

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Adaydreambeliever · 56-60, F

@JohnOinger Oh well, as he is a superhero, wouldn't it be the other way round? HE can do whatever he likes to me.. .because he's a superhero and very strong, and very persuasive?

JohnOinger · 41-45, M

@Adaydreambeliever nice

Peaches · F

@Adaydreambeliever LOL! 😄 I KNOW...he always names people I've never heard of either?!

english · 56-60, M

can you give us an example of what you consider a true fact 🤔

Adaydreambeliever · 56-60, F

@english Well, isn't that *your* job since you were the one asking? And as I say, truth isn't quite the same as fact...and it can vary from one person to another and from one moment to another.. But as I am feeling generous, I will have a go..

A true fact is that most daffodils flower in the spring. This isn't a matter of perception, it's a fact..

english · 56-60, M

@Adaydreambeliever daffodils i ll give you daffodils young lady🥦

DDonde · 31-35, M

This drives me crazy, but it's really a semantic issue for me. 🙃
It is impossible for something to be true for one person but not for another. There is one truth, and we all approach it through our own experiences, but what we experience is not "our truth" - it is our experience. A lens, if you will.

I hate arguing this though, it feels pointless.

Adaydreambeliever · 56-60, F

@DDonde lol apologies! You don't have to argue it... I promise.. your thoughts are welcome and they are enough..

It is semantics! And perhaps it all boils down to having an accepted definition of what truth actually is! But I still say that my truth, a personal truth, such as ... I hate prawns.. is a truth.. not an experience as prawns have never done anything to me! But another person's truth is that they love prawns :P

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