TRUTH & LIFE....

[*Deidre*]

I don't think that there is some singular real truth to our existence beyond the incremental improvement of knowledge provided by the sciences. That's an invention by the religions. I am not frustrated at all by the absence of a deep meaning of life and all the rest, the only thing that bugs me is that the week after I die, they will probably discover something really cool that I miss. Assholes.

I think this is as good a way of putting it as I've seen.

I have also come to think that reaching some end point, some point where we learn that final "truth" of everything, would be the most depressing moment for anyone. What do you do when you've learned everything there is to learn, or know everything there is to know? That's when we start to die.

True lol

It's ok to say "I don't know these answers and I don't need to."
Religion tries to fill gaps. Don't know the answer? Turn to religion. Religion I have found, provides no answers to life's toughest questions. If anything, it stands in the way of finding answers. :/

[Neo-Scholastic]

I side with Aristotle when he says that everyone seeks what they believe will make them happy. Since the time of Plato, philosophers have defined knowledge as “justified true belief”. I think this begs the question and think “justified belief” is about all anyone should expect.

Nevertheless, I find the word ‘true’ useful even if it covers a fairly wide range of notions. People call measurements true when they match an official standard. Such comparisons give confidence to judgments about quantity. People call propositions true when they conform to sound logic. This makes the conclusions that follow from them more certain. When someone has a deep understanding of a subject, people rightly consider their opinions truer than others who have only superficial understanding of the same. When someone’s ideas about the world conform to his observations, the consistent outcomes justify certainty of the results. One universal feature is people’s use the word ‘true’ to express the level of certainty they feel applies to specific knowledge.

The certainty of knowledge ranges from absolute to reasonable. Absolute certainty applies to the self-evident and/or necessary first principles without which knowledge would be impossible. We can also have absolute certainty of unmediated sensation. Less certain than first principles and sensations are the deductions people make from their experience with sensible bodies. Less certain than deduced ideas is empirical knowledge induced from observations. And least certain of all reasonable assumptions based on everyday intuitions.

That’s just my two cents, adjusted for inflation…

[Foxaèr]

Just a simple question or 3 to ponder. What is it that makes us all the same in our journey through life?

Could it be the quest for Love? For Peace? For Happiness?

...or more importantly, Truth?

Isn't that what we are ALL seeking in life?

Not at all. I am merely seeking to exist and live my life to its fullest for as long as I am able to draw breath.

Truth is not something I absolutely need more than anything else. The only reason I post on this forum is to have a semi-social connection with like minds, and the only reason I am adamantly against religion is that I am tired of the way it poisons absolutely everything with its blatant lies.

[ThomM]

Just a simple question or 3 to ponder. What is it that makes us all the same in our journey through life?

Could it be the quest for Love? For Peace? For Happiness?

...or more importantly, Truth?

Isn't that what we are ALL seeking in life? Doesn't that fact make us all the same?

Wanting confirmation in our "system"...whatever it is! Through our understanding and knowledge. Through our experiences and relationships.

There is something we do know. Whether by Faith or Knowledge: We still haven't found the real truth in this existence. Maybe what frustrates us the most is; We can't get it on our own, and that the truth needs to be revealed to us in some final defining moment of our lives.

So, in your minds-eye, or heart what is the [holder] of Truth that we seek?

And what of the "journey" to truth? In the essence of, and relation to, the final answer? Does it matter or connect to you at all? Do we eventually: give-up looking, wear-out, or perhaps we fool ourselves at some point; into a square box of knowledge, or beliefs we built on..... what essentially is: things others have told us?

...thanks for your serious observations and thoughts! Ron

Going to your chosen title for this thread - first - WHAT IS TRUTH

Truth is something that can be proven to be factual

Since NO god has ever been proven to be factual - all god based religions are BELIEFS. At that is where the problem comes in - Somehow quite a number of people have been brought up to believe that there is something AFTER LIFE - because we cannot be HAPPY with just the actual life we are able to prove we have.

THe basis for religion is that - somehow if you lead a Moral - Ethical - and good life - you NEED the belief in a reward system in order to actually do it.
Something AFTER life. An ETERNAL reward (Or punishment).

THe problem with that is humans are both sentient and have intelligence - and are capable of understanding what is RIGHT and what is WRONG - without the need for a religion. AND if YOU can do that one - then the question becomes

Are you capable of living a good - moral - ethical life with concern for yourself and others in the world - and doing that for the most basic reason - that is it the correct thing to do?

If you need to be "Bribed" to do that - are you actually doing it for the correct reason?

AND if the god existed - wouldn't the god KNOW the difference?

[Minimalist]

What is it that makes us all the same in our journey through life?

We all die at the end of the journey. No one gets out alive.

[Rahul]

We all poop?

[Lek]

I guess everybody is different. I've always been obsessed with discovering the truth. My life is a daily search towards that end. You can spend your whole life learning new things. I don't understand why so many people think that a christian isn't interested in acquiring new knowledge. If you're searching for the truth though, you must be open to dealing with concepts that are counter to what you hold to currently. You have to leave out your own biases in order to be objective.

[Alex K]

I guess everybody is different. I've always been obsessed with discovering the truth. My life is a daily search towards that end. You can spend your whole life learning new things. I don't understand why so many people think that a christian isn't interested in acquiring new knowledge. If you're searching for the truth though, you must be open to dealing with concepts that are counter to what you hold to currently. You have to leave out your own biases in order to be objective.

Well I do science, and I also aim to find out or aim to learn new true things about the world. That's very important to me and I don't want to call that into question at all. What I am highly suspicious of is THE Truth behind life and the universe, which is a religious, and in my opinion fallacious idea.

ESPECIALLY when you want to find the truth (in the sense of a collection of knowledge), you have to learn to say "I don't know" and reject tempting simple answers. You also have to accept that some questions do not have answers or are nonsensical.

[Whateverist]

I don't know. Correspondence between statements and the way things stand works well on objective things.

But what is the truth about who you are? Is there anything essential about who any of us is about which we can make discoveries or just get it terribly wrong? Or is identity an arbitrary choice? I believe but do not know that there is truth on the personal level. Guess that makes me something of a mystic. I can live with that.

[Chas]

I guess everybody is different. I've always been obsessed with discovering the truth. My life is a daily search towards that end. You can spend your whole life learning new things. I don't understand why so many people think that a christian isn't interested in acquiring new knowledge. If you're searching for the truth though, you must be open to dealing with concepts that are counter to what you hold to currently. You have to leave out your own biases in order to be objective.

And you have to seek evidence.