TRUTH & LIFE....

[ronedee]

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

[Alex K]

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.
P.s.
Faith is not a means of obtaining knowledge.

[Zen Badger]

The "TRUTH" is quite simply beyond us.

However, the journey towards that truth is far more interesting than the truth will ever be.

[Cato]

ronedee,
Have you ever read and considered Plato's Allegory of the Cave?

http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/allegory.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegory_of_the_cave

I always refer to this when considering what truth is; which I take to mean reality. I also live with some basic facts:
1. It's impossible for me to know everything; however, I strive to understand as much as possible in the limited time I have.
2. I will die without knowing some aspects of reality. I doubt seriously that I will commit to memory the average width of all species of beetle. I am also confident that parts of our reality will be as yet undiscovered at the time of my demise.

For this reason I scoff at those who attempt to package all of reality into an overly simplistic model that intentionally ignores our ability to unshackle ourselves, stand up, and turn around to see the source of the shadows. One aspect of the Allegory of the Cave that I don't like is how the person returning to those shackled is suggested to lead. Instead of acting as an all knowing master in a sense, the person should have endeavored to unshackle the others and share in the discovery; religion attempts to interpret and lead, science attempts to free and empower.

I have accepted the breadth of my ignorance for over two decades now. I also decided that I would endeavor to chip away at it. Learning came at a cost. The more I learned, the more I understood how ignorant I truly was. Some people feel comfortable at this point accepting some model, or system as you say, that shelters them from the breadth of their ignorance. I'm wired in such a way that this compromise is extremely distasteful and unacceptable. I made peace with my ignorance. I still chip away at it, and it still grows. My ignorance provides me with a sense of wonder, a direction for my passions, and a constant companion of sorts. Discovery is exciting. I think knowing everything would be a bore.

[Jacob(smooth)]

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?

No.

Personally I'm seeking happiness. Love and peace are means to that end and I couldn't give a rats arse about truth. Or even Truth. Whatever that is.

It's not a fact that we're all seeking truth (saying it is doesn't make it so) , thus, your argument is invalid.

---

Also

Wanting confirmation in our "system"...whatever it is!

Is a fabulous way to NOT find the truth.

I did a study on confirmation bias once.
The results were exactly what I expected

[LostLocke]

Two things here:

There is no end destination of "the truth". It's something we'll be constantly learning until the day we cease to exist. It will never be over.

Second, the phrase "I want to know the truth" is in itself meaningless. You need to know the truth about something. "Truth" isn't independent of something that can be described as true or false.

[Confused Ape]

These are just my personal opinions here. I have no idea if they're really true or not.

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

We're humans so we're all the same in that respect.

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?

A lot of people are seeking power, wealth, fame or success. Others, who think they have The Truth, seek to impose it on everyone else.

There is something we do know. Whether by Faith or Knowledge: We still haven't found the real truth in this existence.

How are you defining truth here?

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.

Are you talking about God here?

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

If there is a holder of the Truth you'd think that he, she or it would have revealed the same Truth to people in all the different cultures humans have created since humans appeared on the scene. The only thing I can think of which is common to a lot of different philosophies and religions is -

The Golden Rule

As a concept, the Golden Rule has a history that long predates the term "Golden Rule", or "Golden law", as it was called from the 1670s.[1][6] As a concept of "the ethic of reciprocity," it has its roots in a wide range of world cultures, and is a standard way that different cultures use to resolve conflicts.[1][5] It has a long history, and a great number of prominent religious figures and philosophers have restated its reciprocal, "two-way" nature in various ways (not limited to the above forms).[1]
Rushworth Kidder notes that the Golden Rule can be found in the early contributions of Confucianism (551–479 BC). Kidder notes that this concept's framework appears prominently in many religions, including "Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Zoroastrianism, and the rest of the world's major religions".[7] According to Greg M. Epstein, " 'do unto others' ... is a concept that essentially no religion misses entirely."[8] Simon Blackburn also states that the Golden Rule can be "found in some form in almost every ethical tradition".[9] All versions and forms of the proverbial Golden Rule have one aspect in common: they all demand that people treat others in a manner in which they themselves would like to be treated.

There is no evidence that the Golden Rule was inspired by any deity, though.

[pocaracas]

Reality doesn't care about what you think is true or not.
"what makes us all the same"?... breathing, eating, shitting.... some of us breed, keeping all of us going...

[*Deidre*]

Truth boils down to the choices we make, every day. Whether we believe in a god or not--or follow a religion or not, may motivate our direction and choices. But "truth"...what we value...becomes evident through our actions. Where we spend our time and money is what we value most, regardless of our world view.

We could ponder the "meaning of life" all day long, but where we devote our energies, is actually what defines us. This is why we see many religious people talk a good game about love and peace, but then you see them doing things counter to that.

Atheist or believer, your thoughts, beliefs and words are honestly meaningless if your actions tell a different story.

So, we may all be seeking truth in different ways, but your actions will reveal what truth actually means to you. That's how I see it, anyways. :-)

[Tonus]

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.