Image generated using DALL·E 3. Prompt: a man surfing a wave, reaching out to grab a light.
A letter to our polarizing figures and leaders. I don’t pretend to have authority over truth; in fact no one person can or has. This is merely a truth warrior’s plea for humanity.
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Table of Contents
Abstract
Truth at its best is simple through atomic facts and at its ‘worse’, fluid yet difficult through discovery of endless atomic facts.
It is like surfing on a wave.
It is like pursuing an entity without being able to catch it, reach it.
It can always be fleeting as new information becomes available to you through your own persuasion and through what is ‘presented to you’.
Sometimes it can feel like crashing into a wall.
Pretext
Depending on how much you care for the truth, there will be forces that make finding the truth challenging – especially forces within.
It can be like looking directly into the Sun. It’s going to feel uncomfortable, especially for those that are plagued with ‘bad’ dogmatic and isolated truths. It can be the toppling of man’s existential beliefs, to cause madness and despair. It can pull the rug right from underneath you.
It starts, escalates, deescalates, and ends wars.
Therefore, it should be treated with respect, care and approached with love and curiosity.
It can be near but difficult to see and approach; far, yet ‘clearly’ foggy.
Before I go into the different types of ‘truths’, I would like to set the mood with a slight tangent.
Truth can be tainted by playing ‘ape games’, especially through the shields of factions.
The ape’s fear of being dominated and for that it thinks that it ‘must’ apply domination as a prequel to remedy his fears. For ‘good’ and ‘bad’ reasons.
I like to look at things through ideas versus physical forms of the being. Maybe the ape has the better reasoning and logic, you won’t really know until you ‘listen’ carefully; and maybe the ape is just being an ape.
It’s a matter of being conscious through the short time we have on this blue planet. I’m less interested in the obvious differences between man and ape (i.e. method of communication and global ‘social’ status from a ‘domination’ point of view) and more interested in similarities related to our “time to life” relationship. The remaining moments left on our clock until we become soil. Worrying about our next meal, protection and safety.
Truth Warriors
There are people who have dedicated their lives to tell the truth. There are ones that have been screaming the truth for decades with courage, despite having to manage being an outcast. The day that their truth is discovered by the masses through time and objective events, can bring out the best and worst in everybody, including themselves.
DALL·E 3 Prompt: Mystical Rubik’s Cube conceptual artwork depicting ‘truth warriors’
Their life has come full circle. They can bathe in the world of “I told you so”. To be known as visionaries and pioneers. As truth tellers and polarizing figures.
However as with most things in life, it can come with a price.
They have now identified with that pain through many years, built careers around their ideas. When the day comes that you no longer need to scream your truth, the day where people scream it for you, it can topple your existence.
Are you finished? Was it how you imagined it to end? Will you hold on to the demons that pushed you through those turbulent and challenging times of your despair? Do you want vengeance? Was it for humanity or was it for knowing the truth? Are they not mutually exclusive?
Within the swings of the pendulum, there will always be truth warriors that are winning, and ones that are losing.
In a world where humanity is not listening, like the ancient stories of Sisyphus, truth tellers are pushing a rock up a steep hill. Where does this fortitude come from, to push this rock for years? Is it to help swing the pendulum through humanity’s inhumanity? Is it recognition? Is it fighting madness? purpose? meaning of life and its inevitable suffering? vengeance? legacy? family? humanity?
It is all and none. It is some and none. It is a personal blend of flavours for each individual and for that there will always be order and chaos. You would hope that truth warriors fight for order.
Truth Spectrum
When it comes to the ‘truth’ and not the ‘whole truth’, there lies a spectrum. To no means the following list contains the complete spectrum, but it is a start.
Lazy Truth
DALL·E 3 Prompt: Mystical Rubik’s Cube conceptual artwork depicting ‘lazy truth’
The most prevalent type of truth is the lazy truth.
It only takes seconds, to minutes to hours to scratch the surface.
The average Joe picking up handful of factoids to support their preferred narrative about a subject that garners social credit to their fragile ego within their faction.
Life is already difficult, why go through the trenches of discovering the whole truth, when lazy truth is only one click a way? Especially when it’s extremely effective most of the time, until you cross paths with an expert, a curious mind with an effective conscience and skilled in the art of communication. It might even get a little uncomfortable, which can be a good sign.
The lazy side of the truth is not too keen on coming out of hibernation.
Tainted Truth
DALL·E 3 Prompt: Mystical Rubik’s Cube conceptual artwork depicting ‘tainted truth’
The most effective lies are the ones wrapped with the truth. A truth that has been infected with a virus. It sticks like glue and hard to shake off. The lie is subtle. You would need to be equipped with knowledge to see the subtlety of the lie and verbally equipped to respond with courage. To not be distracted by the truth. The truth that is being used to inject the lie.
Luckily there is a remedy: Curiosity with a sprinkle of love.
Catch and question the subtlety using reason and logic. Some spew tainted truth out of ignorance and some with purpose. If I want to fight for humanity, I must think that most spew falsehood out of ignorance.
And for the rest, it only takes an army of conscious and curious beings to challenge those who purposefully lie, regardless if the lie is good versus bad intentioned.
Isolated and Dogmatic Truths
DALL·E 3 Prompt: Mystical Rubik’s Cube conceptual artwork depicting ‘dogmatic and isolated truth’
The land of the incorrigibles. Treading on dangerous territories when approaching people who base their ideologies around isolated and dogmatic truths. Especially coupled with suspended critical thinking. This does not mean to say that there are no good faith ‘dogmatic’ ideas. In fact, the best examples of historic civilizations typically were based on written and unwritten social principles. What’s unfortunate is that tainted truth distracts humanity from the non-negotiable principles. Such as the value for human life.
There are less consequential dogmatic beliefs, perhaps over sports franchises and athletes.
Is Lebron better than Jordan?
Is Messi the GOAT?
What about Ronaldo?
Which Ronaldo?
Even in such seamlessly harmless (assuming you don’t gamble) examples, the conversations can become daunting.
When it comes to the more socially consequential and difficult subjects, such as religion, national beliefs, colonialism, ethnic cleansing, racial superiorities and genocide; you would need to be a ‘mental ninja’ to be able to put a dent into dogmatic beliefs.
I’ve discovered that dogmatic warriors tend not to change their minds, but are more concerned in changing yours. It can feel like grinding two rocks together. Some have made it a career.
Honourable mentions include traditional and cultural truths. It can feel like walking on egg shells when speaking about both beautiful and ugly dogmatic stereotypes. When it comes to cultural and traditional truth, there also lies a spectrum. It can get messy, so the least one can do is to self equip with good intentioned discovery of knowledge before engagement.
Establishment Truth
DALL·E 3 Prompt: Mystical Rubik’s Cube conceptual artwork depicting ‘establishment and government truth’
Political truth acting as smoke and mirrors; designed for gaining favour from distracted masses to persuade popular belief and opinion. Many people are sleepwalking, which translates into ignorance towards globally consequential matters. This is especially prevalent in societies where citizens are not trained in critical thinking and merely “don’t” have the time to capture an accurate glimpse of the global ‘reality’. People are too busy living their day-to-day lives, which can be challenging on its own, where carrying the weight of the world requires large amounts of cognitive energy. Cognitive energy that has been drained by the time the day-to-day events have subsided.
Parties use establishment truth to guide ‘their’ civilians, and at times in narcissistic and inhumane ways. This is merely a sign of mismanagement, which yells to the conscious of the capable, the stars of a meritocratic world to stand up and fight for humanity.
Despite the darkness it can ensue on humanity, direct communication between a government and its people is still a necessity. In times of celebrations and times of war and struggles; and in some cases urgently. Having experienced glimpses of war as a child, I can personally attest to its vibrations. When it feels as if your entire life is on pause, and all that matters is safety. Especially when the alarms go off that we are about to get bombed from the sky.
Having said that, like most things there is a spectrum. The lines of communications between the government and its citizens can also become tainted and mismanaged when certain parties use these avenues to inject lazy, tainted, expired and potentially dogmatic truths in order to manufacture establishment truths. Until you are sufficiently equipped, you won’t be able to tell the difference.
Timed Box & Expired Truth
DALL·E 3 Prompt: Conceptual artwork symbolizing ‘Fading Truth’
Timelines are important for context around the truth. Something can be ‘true’ if the context outside the boundaries of its timelines are ignored. It would be true without context, and only partially true with context. Sometimes with context, a truth can be a bad faith ideology designed as a distraction to prevent discovering the whole truth. Similar to a tainted truth.
For example: “Johnny is a good boy.”, “Johnny was a good boy on Sunday”, “Johnny was a bad boy for 2 years.”, “Since last summer, Johnny has been a good boy .”.
Is Johnny a good boy?
As the variables change so does the truth and the whole truth. “Johnny was good” can be true and false depending on the timeline.
It can be excruciating for everybody when parties argue without establishing the timeline. Given different timelines, all parties can be correct. When you couple that with the persistence of honourable truth warriors it can get ugly. Good faith discovery requires this premise, especially when discussing radically opposing views in pursuit of the whole truth.
The Whole Truth
DALL·E 3 Prompt: A magical Rubik’s cube that represents solving for truth.
The best kind of truth; assuming you’re not hiding from it, versus eagerly pursuing it. Those who consciously hide behind it are afraid to be discovered. Those who are unconsciously hiding have been ‘infected’ and at times they live in subtle to excruciating mental anguish. Perhaps they can be treated by bringing conscious attention to the matter at hand and heal. It really boils down to what is important for one to consider at such a scope. The whole truth is bright and vibrant; you know when you see it. It can be as easy as pointing to the Sun and saying “there’s the Sun”. Just like the Sun, it can also be both comforting and warm, and/or hellish fire.
In my experience, pain has typically been the indicator for setting importance and urgency. It can feel a bit scary when the pain disappears; wondering what might have now occupied your blind spot? The internal mental alert for discovering unconscious and subconscious ‘truths’ and bringing them into the present through consciousness.
Sometimes the whole truth requires exceptional patience and persistence; other times it could be like letting go and taking a leap of faith. Either way, consciousness is the prequel for either path. Blindingly leaping into an endless pit typically does not happen consciously.
Are you looking for big foot because you would like the idea to be true or are you genuinely curious?
When the conscious has settled, and is curious and eager for good intentioned discovery, the path is set towards the whole truth. Luckily light on its own is persistent, it can get through most cracks without the need for your personal effort. However, when it comes to discovering the whole truth, it is only up to you to go towards the hypothetical ‘light’.
It will need courage and boldness to traverse through uncharted territories. I have yet to consciously accept a better way to fulfil life’s purpose and its inevitable suffering. The least we can be is conscious and present. Easier said than done, as humanity is plagued with limitless distractions outside its natural capacity through all forms of communication, especially digital. Our only hope is being consciously intentioned in our behaviour to avoid being sucked through mental vacuums and silos.
Once we are aware, the Rubik’s cube solves itself, through courageous atomic actions towards atomic truths.
DALL·E 3 Prompt: Magical Rubik’s Cube, glowing with an ethereal light and symbolizing the pursuit of deeper truth
Really interesting! 🙂