by Misty Sampson

Created on: October 04, 2010

To Search for Truth:  A Quest That Begins and Ends with Nothing

We seek it in 140 characters.  We seek it in 400 words.  Our fingers reach for it within the black and white of the morning’s latest publication, and our hearts ache for it beneath the weight of life’s daily trials.  Truth is the beacon, the prize we hope to acquire within the words we follow and the words we absorb.

Yet beneath all the words exchanged and opinions argued, truth is buried.  At one moment, truth is the guiding force of our pens and typing fingers.  Eventually, it becomes the obstacle adroitly avoided on the way to another cerebral destination.

The problem is not in our inability to find truth.  Truth is lofty and plagued by inevitable entanglement with human imperfections.  Perhaps truth only prevails within Plato’s theory of Forms, which severs the possibility of earthly attainability.

The real problem rests in our audacity to claim that truth remains the reason for the words we follow and share.  In a world where the words and lives of Hollywood starlets garner ardent attention and even respect, truth assumes a fantastic façade.  “Truth” is the established, elitist answer, but easy escape disguised as truth is our ultimate destination.  To admit this should not evoke shame but should bring us closer to an awareness of humanity.

To suppose that truth is the province of a particular ideology is the purview of punditry.  While it inspires public debate and dinner table discourse, punditry’s purported quest for truth lacks sincerity as it strives for supremacy within the realm of elected government offices.  Political power, not truth, is the ultimate goal and suggesting otherwise taints whatever integrity the process possesses.

As subtle strings from every angle attempt to guide our actions and master the terrains of our thoughts, the responsibilities of the general public multiply.  Although truth cannot be the endpoint, the need for critical thinking to maneuver the twists of Machiavellian effectual truths is paramount.  The suggestion that notions as ethereal as “hope” and “change” can be accepted from a politician’s mouth and implemented through government institutions is classic manipulation of the desire for truth.  Slowly, the public is reaching this realization, with evidence appearing through opinion polls and voter turnout.  Like hope and change, truth by its strictest definition rests in a realm that remains inaccessible to the public at large, and insinuating that our dialogue is dedicated to such principles is trickery.

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