Yesterday I wrote about the value of different perspectives in the world and how we should seek to understand the perspectives of others without assuming our own are correct.
The inevitable question is what does one do when you are debating something in which there is no middle ground, when it is a question of absolute truth?
The problem with absolute truth is not that it does or does not exist; it is that we are often too blind to recognize it.
There are absolute truths in the world, times when one side of a debate are correct and others are wrong; for example, the Earth is either a globe or it is flat, and there either is a god or there is not.
The problem with absolute truth is that our own perspective does not always allow us to see the truth.
Whether you think the globe is flat or a globe is dependent entirely on your interpretation of science; whether or not you believe in a god depends on your personal conviction regarding the possibility of an almighty being.
Even so, our own perspective might preclude us from understanding absolute truth; it is entirely possible that it is impossible for us to know the truth.
For example, imagine that we take the bus together and when we get off we both try to remember how many people were on the bus.
This is a question of absolute truth – there was a definitive number of people on the bus – but what if we can’t agree?
I say there were 15 people on the bus and you say there were 17; but what if, in actual fact, there were 16 people on the bus?
In this case, our own perspectives – our own memories – prevent us from knowing the truth, and no matter how much we argue our point, the truth is that neither of us are correct – the absolute truth eludes us both.
It is the height of arrogance to assume that we know the truth and others do not.
We should all of us seek to know the truth – that search is at the heart of all learning and inquiry – but it requires that we first acknowledge that we may not know the truth and that we may never know it.
Truth is a humbling thing, especially when our own perspectives can sometimes blind us to it.
We should all seek to understand the perspectives of others in case each of us can contribute to better understanding what is true.
In my next post, I will be exploring specifically how climate change has been turned into a war of absolutes.