It has been a while since I posted to my blog. My last posting was made during the winter from Hawaii, and now I am in Washington State. I just completed a trip to Asia, followed by a cruise aboard the Diamond Princess across the Pacific Ocean to Alaska. It was my third Trans-Pacific cruise, each cruise taking place on Princess ships. While Princess has a lot of activities to fill the long days at sea, I like to spend much of the time with a good book and I was able to read several on my Kindle. Thanks to modern electronics, a person can now travel with a complete library! But by the time I completed the cruise, I had read all the content of my Kindle and purchased three paperbacks from the gift shop.
I love reading because there are always new and exciting things to learn. My favorite reading is usually non-fiction history, historic novels and murder-mysteries. The reason I enjoy reading is that I can get completely absorbed in the story-line and, in a sense, live with the characters in the book. Recently, I read the historical account of Custer's Last Stand. Having visited the battle-site in Montana, as well as spending quite a bit of time on horseback, I could imagine what the lives of the cavalry soldiers were like as they rode over the grassy knolls and ridges along the Yellowstone River heading toward their appointment with history.
But in addition to being immersed in good books, the days at sea allowed me to spend a lot of time with my thoughts. For whatever reason, I was thinking about the nature of knowledge. This was somewhat deep thinking for a person like myself. I suppose one of the reasons my mind was running in this direction was that I was thinking about the difference between the fiction and non-fiction stories I had been reading.
To me, in order for a novel to be good, it has to be believable. The story as presented on the pages should be something that could actually have happened. Accomplished fiction writers spend a lot of time doing research, and often list several pages of credits to people who advised them in the writing of their story. This is really not much different from the historical non-fiction, in that a ton of research is required to produce a publishable work.
But just because a book is believable does not mean that it is true. By their very nature, novels are not true, although frequently they may be based on some real-life experience or a historical event. In both fiction and non-fiction, the reader will acquire knowledge. However, in the novel, much of that knowledge will be not be based in reality. This is not a problem for most people. In fact, having a lively and active imagination can be good for the mind and offers a way of temporary escape from otherwise impossible situations. But regardless of how redemptive the fantasy might be, the individual eventually has to come back to the real world and face his demons.
From time to time, novels can be almost prophetic when placed in some future context. Books like "Twenty-Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" and characters like space-man "Buck Rogers" are examples of authors who had uncanny insights into future events and reality.
This brings me to the point I really want to discuss; What is knowledge? I would like to offer the following definition: Knowledge is mankind's discovery of Truth. This definition may challenge what you believe. But listen to what I say with an open mind. I base my thoughts on some concepts which I believe are reasonable:
1. All truth has always existed. Man does not create truth. This is not to say that man can not be truthful. Consider any aspect of science; did man invent chemistry, or did he discover it? Was physics something that was developed by science, or did scientists uncover its truths through experiments, trial and error, success and failure? I would have to say that humans uncovered the truths of science. Many times, the discovery of one truth opened the door to many other truths. Gravity, as an example, was discovered by the simple falling of an apple from a tree. This event challenged Galileo to further experiments, such as dropping balls of different weights from the Tower of Pisa. By understanding the function of gravity, man would later learn methods to defeat its forces and fly thought the air
Mathematics is something further to consider. Do you suppose man invented math, or was it there all the time just waiting for discovery so that teachers could drive millions of students crazy? (Math was not my best subject.)
Medicine is another area that fits my scenario. Medical science has discovered ways to deal with sickness and disease. There are still many ailments for which there is no known cure. This does not mean that a cure does not exist, just that medical researchers have not yet found it.
2. Truth does not change. Mankind's opinion of truth might change. But the underlying truth remains the same, regardless of what man thinks about it. At one time, science believed the sun rotated around the earth. But the universe did not change to suit man's theories. The earth continued to rotate around the sun until man discovered the truth and aligned his beliefs with the facts of the relationship between the planets and the sun.
Medical science used to believe that many sicknesses could be cured by draining blood from the patient. This practice was still in vogue just a hundred years ago. Many patients died because of being bled by their doctors, even possibly including the first American president, George Washington.
3. Sincerely believing an untruth does not cause it to become true. Sometime, it seems that if enough people believe something, if it is taught long enough in schools, that it is indeed a fact. Charles Darwin gave much thought and study to the origins of life and put forth what we know as "The Theory of Evolution". In his book, "The Origin of the Species" he spelled out what he felt was a reasonable explanation for how life originated and developed. Darwin felt pretty sure of his suppositions. But he said that it would be up to subsequent generations of scientists to provide the evidence and proof to support his theory.
But rather than developing a body of discovery and knowledge to substantiate Darwin's theory, the academic world started teaching from "The Origin of the Species" as if it was not a "theory" but proven fact. They failed to provide evidence to substantiate the concepts proposed by Darwin. In fact, they were unable to follow through as Darwin had hoped they would and flesh out the skeleton of his Theory.
The Theory of Evolution, while still called "a theory" (because it has never been proven) continues to be presented as fact in our schools and culture. It has been presented as truth for most of the past century but has never been proven to be factual. I am not saying this because I am a creationist, which I am. But because science has never been able to provide the evidence to support the theory their practice goes against all of the Best Practices of science. It is somewhat akin to insisting on bleeding a patient to cure a disease.
4. Believing untruth inhibits the development of knowledge and the advancement of the human condition. Consider the old belief that the world was flat. For centuries, mariners were afraid to venture too far out into the ocean for fear they would fall off the edge of the earth. Until Vikings dared to probe the limits of the earth did they discover another continent. Columbus followed later, believing what was not a popular or accepted concept; that he could sail around the world to India.
When people believe a falsehood about any subject, they stop searching for the truth. Knowledge ceases to develop when man refuses to pursue truth.
5. Because an idea or concept may seem "logical" does not make it true. The human mind seems to function very well in doing "deductive reasoning". In criminal law, this concept is know as "circumstantial evidence". If an employee is heard to say that he hates his boss, and subsequently the boss is found murdered, it is logical to assume the employee killed his boss. But that fact alone, while seeming "incriminating" will not result in a conviction of the unhappy worker unless there is supporting evidence to collaborate the accusation. Were his fingerprints on the gun? Was the boss's blood found on the employee's jacket? Was he seen at the scene of the crime?
People often arrive at life-affecting decisions and conclusions based on little more than "circumstantial evidence". But as has been proven over and over, logic is not an accurate indication of truth. If fact, more often than not, what seems right to a person turns out to be totally wrong when all the facts are exposed to the light of day. In fact, our example of the sun rotating around the earth is logical from all appearances. We like to go the the beach in the early evening to watch the "sunset". But in relation to the earth the sun does not move. Rather the earth rotates until the sun is no longer in our view. It is not difficult to understand how our ancestors drew the conclusion that the sun was rotating around the earth because their logic was skewed by their perspective. They were earth-bound, unable to see into space and understand the design of the solar system.
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It seems that in many aspects our current society is content to accept untruth rather than seek knowledge through the truth. In fact, there is a popular belief that truth is relative and is based on the viewpoint of the individual. No pun is intended when I say this, but nothing could be further from the truth! The concept of "relative" truth freezes and petrifies the development of knowledge. No amount of belief can turn a lie into truth. Without truth, there can be no real knowledge, no frontiers or new discovery, no advancing.
In fact, the opposite is true. The more that people believe they can create truth by the power of their wills or the more they choose to believe what is convenient or expedient, the more our county and society slips into obscurity and oblivion. There is a popular belief in many parts of world today that through applying certain political and spiritual practices the world will become better and better until Utopia is attained on Earth. If this were true, the world would already be a much kinder and gentler place. But there is little or no evidence to support this concept.
Believing and accepting an untruth or lie not only stymies human progress, but can be damaging to the person and society in the same way that believing and practicing truth can produce positive results. Not too many years ago, it was thought to be healthy to spend hours lying in the sun. It was believed that a nice tan was a thing to be sought after and desired. But as we now know, that was not the truth. In fact, just the opposite was true. Spending hours in the sun caused skin damage and could lead to melanoma cancer. Rather than producing a more healthy life, it produced death!
True "Utopia" and happiness can only be achieved as man honestly and earnestly seeks truth and the resulting knowledge that opening the door to truth produces. "The TRUTH will set you free!"
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