by Dante de Miura

Created on: April 04, 2009   Last Updated: June 01, 2009

I know everything. I know nothing. I know something.

One of these statements is true. I think. Or are they all true? To "know" what is true may mean understanding the conditions by which it is true. And that's the hard part. How do we define then discern truth? We often perceive "Truth" as slippery. By design, "Truth" should be transparent. It should just "be." By definition, there should be total and broad acceptance, no questions asked. Yet, it seems nebulous and fleeting to many and is known to have many flavors.

"Truth" can be present. It can be mysterious. It can be known. It can be evasive. It can be clear. It can prompt debate. It can be cloudy and it can even be summoned on demand. But what is it? How can we identify it? And how do we know if truth is absolute or based on some condition?

If we look hard enough, we can find some clues that yield strong answers for consideration. Let's explore why truth must be absolutely conditional right here, right now and for the rest of our lives. But let's also look at one place where this is not the case. There may just be one instance that suggests truth is the opposite, or conditionally absolute.

Right Here, Right Now, Truth is Absolutely Conditional.

For us humans, right here, right now and for the rest of our Earthly lives, truth is conditional. Why? Simply because, for us, as we have defined it, it is based on a premise that yields a result - both of which are globally accepted.

We have created structure in language, math and science and built systems inside those structures over time. We accept their premises and we adopt their meanings and outcomes. The equation 1+1=2 is true, we say. Sure. Because we set it up to be so. We decided, according to our system, there would be one answer and that it would be "true." Is that truth? If we say it is, then it is because we accept a system of numbers and what they represent. That means our truth is based on a condition. The condition is that we accept the system and that which is represented and meant by the numbers "1" and "2."

These structures are how we come to learn and "understand" the world around us. We had to start somewhere and we started with cognitive, discerned, inquisitive observation. From there we added language (naming) and meaning. We sprinkled in reason and logic. We got creative. We became proud and pleased at what we were building. We extrapolated. We applied. We branched out. We learned and we keep on learning.

These learning cycles

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