The name of our boat is Emet. My graduation ring has “Truth” on it. It is a concept with which I have always been fascinated. What is it, though? I always had it in my mind that something that is true is unassailable. Over the years I have vacillated between believing there is an absolute truth and believing there is not an absolute truth. Philosophers have debated, wondered, and pondered this for ages. Any good debate must begin on a foundation that the two sides can agree on. One thing that they both agree is unassailable for the debate to begin. There must be a truth. That one statement that goes something like this: “Well, we can agree that . . . ”
The dilemma is that once we get outside the world of debate and start living in the world as we perceive it, it becomes much harder for the foundation to be agreed upon. We have numerous religions and sub-religions that splintered from those religions and further shattered segments of the sub-religions. It goes on forever all because someone didn’t like someone else’s truth. Math even has proofs that later get disproved. Or universal constants that either aren’t so universal or even constant. Science is the new religion and just like the old religions, everyone has their own gods. And some even deny the existence of any science gods at all, thus science doesn’t exist for them. One person’s science is another person’s myth.
And maybe that’s one of the lessons in this life. Maybe there’s no such thing as an unassailable truth because then we wouldn’t have to make our own decisions. We wouldn’t have to struggle to find the truth, our truth, and others’ truths. I suppose the only unassailable truth is that we all have our own truths. We must find our truth and then assimilate it into the world. Or assimilate the world into our truth.
Your life is the lesson, my son.