Truth

it comes in three flavors

Tonight will be fun starting with this adorable photo. Truth comes in all shapes and sizes but I am going to focus on pigeon-holing truth into three flavors.

The Dutch photographer Hanne Heere captured this remarkable photo of a young barn owl running across the grass. The owl is the traditional symbol of truth. I have never seen an owl running before!

Saturday — What is This?

24 hours to post your guess in the comments. This is not related to the post. My first attempt last Saturday at this was an ABJECT FAILURE without a single formal guess in the comments. I will give it a couple more weeks to see if this catches on. If your plan is not working, adjust the plan.

What are these?

The Folly of a Bills Fan

The author seeks to go out on a limb. This was WRITTEN on Saturday morning around 1030 AM, scouts honor! NFL Playoffs: Titans beat Bengals, Bills UPSET Chiefs, Packers BEAT 49ers, Rams UPSET Bucs. Bills beat Bengals, Rams UPSET Packers, Bills beat Rams.

My alarm this morning was set for 5:45 AM. My morning routine is automated. My SmartScreen beside my bed sets to low light at night and slowly increases around the alarm to ease me out of bed. The goal is to awaken before the alarm sounds. This morning my plan was successful as I canceled the alarm shortly before its first attempt to jostle me out of bed. I slipped on some clothing for a trip on the treadmill and examined myself in the mirror. Just changing clothes was a good start along with an assessment of how much work my 61-year-old body might need for the day ahead.

I made my way down the stairs quietly. My dog Denny will always gladly eat early if an opportunity presents itself. I was still in my slippers so my commitment to a morning exercise routine was still up in the air. I poured a large cup of coffee, put on my sneakers, and went down the stairs at 6:15 AM. Very few things deliver stimulation to my brain like a walk on my treadmill. I decided early on that today would be a simple one-word discussion and that subject would be the truth. I was inspired by a podcast that I listened to because my sons recommended it. My middle son, “B” has been recommending I listen to a popular Podcast. I finished my trip at 7:05 (a 50-minute jaunt to nowhere) and in that period found more than enough for a post.

Because of my writing, I realize that what I am being exposed to is changing slightly. Who and how we spend our time defines us. The type of people we become and how our beliefs can change is up to us. We get to choose the influences we let into our lives and our minds. There has never been a time when it was easier to determine the truth. It is simultaneously so easy to bunker with like-minded and find reinforcement for the most unlikely things. Remaining active prevents a silent passive transformation. I doubt many of our political views, both left and right, make objective sense when we pause to carefully consider them. I believe that it is an easier path to keep doing what we are doing and go where the stream takes us.

The remarkable story of humanity is a special mind we have that allows us to contemplate, understand our place in the world, consider consequences, etcetera. This method of thinking requires more time and energy. I fear our ability to contemplate is a use it or lose it capability. In my opinion, this capability is a wonderful gift, and letting it atrophy from disuse is an avoidable tragedy.

So today is an attempt to change lanes and let my mind consider something different. I think it will be healthy. Our tendencies of who and what we listen to can shape our beliefs. It is easy to “get in a rut” and only consume those things that confirm our preferences and biases. Without any background in neurology, I imagine that repetition plays a large factor in how ideas and opinions imprint in our brain. All we know definitively is that our brains are pattern recognition engines. When particular “things” occur over and over they revise our neurology and such things become stubborn truths. My newfound writing has had an interesting impact on what sorts of things are delivered for my enjoyment. I try hard to not become a captive to where I’ve been but rather try to remain open to finding something new and challenging for my brain. I am grateful my newsfeed doesn’t blurt out nonsensical stuff like “Fake News”, “Q-Anon”, “ban the police” or Doomsday scenarios about how modern culture will be our demise. I consider ALL OF THIS nonsense. We have all the power we need to rid ourselves of it.

So today, we will move, one day at a time, forward to a better and broader set of topics to post about. Today it shall be about truth and there is no better place to start than with a definition.

Building upon the “official” definitions is interesting. I aim to focus on the difference between objective and subjective truth. Objective resides with facts and subjective tends to align with beliefs. Both are valuable for a free society.

• Objective Truth — something which is true whether or not you believe it or understand it. The methods and tools of science are uniquely conceived to seek and establish objective truths. Objective truths are not later shown to be false. Here is an example “The Earth revolves around the Sun”.

• Personal Truth — These are truths you hold dear. Personal truths are precious in a free country because freedom of expression, speech, and religion are protected. Convincing or imposing your “personal” truth on others is a path to violence and has collapsed organized societies for centuries. They are precious and important. They only have negative consequences when individuals conclude they should or must impose them on others. While some might call these beliefs, it is important to recognize that in a free society, we create a space that allows individuals to hold these as truths (for them) and we all need to collectively respect that. In return, the holder should feel bound to keep them personal. Here is my example “Jesus is my Savior”.

• Political Truth — These are statements that have been sufficiently repeated, claimed, or shouted that they have become true in many people’s experiences. I will engage all of you with two. (1) “The police are largely biased in all of their decision-making”. (2) “The New York Times is fake news”. Both of these are accompanied by an incumbent boost of blood pressure and heart rate to the person doing the shouting.

So my thesis here is that each of these sorts of “truth” differs. One is based on reason. One is based on personal belief and perhaps faith and the last is based upon feelings and emotion. To my eye, the first two are important and indispensable to a free society. Objective truth is the fuel to improving society. Attempts to undermine or confuse the first perhaps because it conflicts with personal beliefs are damaging to the advance of mankind. Personal truth fuels togetherness and personal serenity. It is indispensable to be tolerant in a free society. Political truth is brandished by all to manipulate and alter or delay the future direction of a society.

I am an optimist and I believe political truths are simply impediments to efficient progress. The march of time, reason, and justice will overwhelm the pettiness and lack of basis. I remain hopeful we will continue to value and pursue the search for objective truth. I expect the rate of discovery will continue its accelerating trajectory. Objective truths provide benefits for the whole human race. Each new objective truth can undermine, at least intellectually, some of our conflicting personal truths. We must be patient and respectful of our fellow citizens to examine these new truths for themselves. I hope we can avoid the pitfall leading to the decline and destruction of many great societies. When a subclass believes something threatens their personal truths a pushback against objectivity may occur.

Patience and tolerance are the guidance for those that bear witness. For the troubled, I hope they can arrive at serenity without undermining objective truth or retreating to manipulation in political truth to avoid coming to terms with their own beliefs. I hope as the world is revealed to us via the discovery of objective truths, we can set aside our political truths and embrace compromise.

Listening to a voice that you think might make you uncomfortable is a great stretching exercise for your brain. I think listening outside your comfort zone helps you mix the objective, personal and political, and lets them rattle around in your brain. The result can be a mess sometimes but often can become a tasty gumbo. Tonight I am MOST THANKFUL I made a sincere effort to listen to Joe Rogan and his popular Podcast. The reason this happened was a long overdue taking my son “B”s advice. Thanks “B”, I promise to listen closely in the future. I expect my “goto” list of PodCasts is going to grow in the weeks ahead. I have always believed and gravitated toward long-form news. I consider the best way we can hear the gray rather than only the black and white, good vs bad that pervades so much media today.

Tonight I’ve got three songs. One for each of the three types of truth. The first one is about gravity (objective truth). The second one is about personal belief (and a great tune). The third song is a political truth (and a hometown favorite). The best thing about this topic is I squeezed in THREE SONGS!!!!! I will run out of ideas to write about before I run out of music. My secret weapon is a great new friend “M” who I enjoy playing tennis with and getting to know. He is the ULTIMATE MUSIC HOUND. I think if I take him out for lunch I will receive all of the music inspiration I may need for a long time. While I did not quite do it this evening, I almost went down the rap music alley. My sons will become determined subscribers if I can make that jump :). Thank you to my friends “J” & “C” for their comments and editing help this evening. Tonight was an experiment in more careful editing.