Perceiving Truth

I have not written for quite sometime. Which has been done for conscious reasons. I will not get into them though I don't have the time. I want to discuss something and it will probably come off wrong and perhaps a little trite. It doesn't really matter it should be said none the less. So bear with me as I try and explain something that still has not quite coalesced in my own brain.

First of all I want you to disregard any of my past posts on truth. They have been poorly constructed and I am mildly embarrassed by the intellectual effort put into them. Second I want you to realize this important point before I start off. I am going to strategically use a strong statement. It is merely to make sure it sticks in your head. Here we go. Truth as we know it is merely semantic bullshit. Think about that for a second let it sink in. Don't try to refute it right off -- open your mind for a second and let it rattle in there. Good. Now we may proceed.

Truth. In earlier blogs I never defined this little concept. We sort of take for granted we understand truth. When something is true it is true -- a fairly simple statement. Unfortunately, the connotation built into that little word are so loaded the word it self has in a sense become somewhat meaningless. A sort of pseudo-philosophical concept we use to force our beliefs onto other people. Honestly, I can't define it and I refuse to pull out the all mighty Webster's because it is a pointless reference when having this conversation.

We use Truth as a metaphysical concept. We look at facts and can say those are true and then we use those facts and try to extrapolate some sort of broad based truth. We use this concept as a steping stone to a meaningful life. We use this concept as our meaning. If some how we can figure out what truth is then and only then can we live a life worth living.

Here is the kicker though. I doesn't matter if Truth exists or not. If it does we can never know it. We are sensory driven animals. Everything we see, hear, taste ,touch, and smell are simply chain reactions racing through our nervous system kick starting chemical reactions in a mass of tissue we call a brain. It is a fallible process we call consciousness. It is for the most part an illusion. We create a world around us using our senses and leave out a whole world of sensory inputs that do nothing for our normal rational existence. There are wave lengths our eye can't see, pitches our ear can't hear, we ignore certain senses when it doesn't suit our purpose. We know everything through these senses and the tools we developed to aid them. These senses are fallible they can not be trusted. Sure they are valuable in our normal waking life to make such decisions as determining good times to cross a road so we aren't run over by cars. The fallible unfortunately can not detect the truth. As I am sure no matter what definition of truth you ascribe to fallibility's ability to discover it is certainly a disqualifier.

Now with that depressing picture painted let me state. I suppose that it is possible if Truth does exist we may be capable of picking up on little slivers of it at times. Whether through divine inspiration or rational comprehension, maybe we can discover a part of it. Yet, we can never know if we discovered it at best it is by Faith we know truth. Yet, we are aware of the limitations of faith. There are so many faiths that it is impossible to know which one contains the truth or even the largest sliver of it. In fact more likely each faith has their own little sliver of it. This of course creates chaos when these so called truths clash in seemingly paradoxical views. Paradox simply means we aren't looking deep enough.

I want to get to my point because all this information for the most part is intuitive and frankly rather useless. If you are looking for answers in search of truth. You will ultimately be disappointed. Because it doesn't exist. When searching for truth, happiness is only found when the pursuit is abandoned and you randomly settle on that little sliver that makes your life the most comfortable to live. My curse is my undying craving for more knowledge. I have never been able to abandon that pursuit. My world view changes so often it leaves me in chaos most of the time. It drives me crazy yet, I can not stop. I discovered a real important nugget over the past few weeks and I will attempt to share it. It isn't the Truth that matters rather our perception of what truth is that does. Perceptions can be melded and conformed. They can change. They are NOT absolute. Never. If you hold on to a single perception it might make things easier but, it is a shallow existence. Thus the allure of fundamentalist religions and their danger. All your decisions are already made. The key though for someone like me who most delve deeper is this. Shifting perception. Creating truth that best fits your needs. The view of the world the will help you create in your life what is most important -- Meaning.

That may not be the truth but it might be the closest to the truth I'll ever come in my life. I know all this sounds really cheesy, too some people it is probably heresy, to others simply gibberish. It doesn't matter though. It doesn't change a thing. It is simply your perception. Remember that.