The Last Philosophy You Need to Know.

There can be only one truth.

I see some of you nodding your head in agreement. Yet there are those here who would rather scoff, reply back impulsively with negative comments on why this cannot be. Or maybe you just want proof? Well then, this thread is dedicated to you.


Imagine if you will an all-knowing entity. It is not important what it looks like or from whence it came from. This entity exists outside of our universe. This entity is infinite and is/was able to view the entire life of our universe, the past, present, and future. The entity exists independent of our "reality" and so could see from all possible angles.

The entity is the best witness. So the "Truth" is the entity's eyewitness testimony.


I'm not at all suggesting that this entity is God. I'm putting forth proof that there is only one way it all happened. The problem lies in interpretation.

Consider the concept of a perfect circle. What would your perfect circle look like? Perhaps large or maybe very small, but perfectly round. No indication of a break in its structure. Once we try to copy or draw this circle, it becomes flawed.

Perfection in your mind. Perfection intangible. Perfection separate from the universe.

Perfection is the important link to the "Truth". It is the medium between the mind/body-universe.
So the circles that we can envision in our mind are all perfect, unique to ourselves. Yet they differ among other ones don't they? Mine is different than yours, yours is different from his, his is different from hers and so on. So why the change?

It is my belief that perfection is innate to each and every one of us. From the start, it was imprinted in your head. It is your families, your friends, your teachers, your professors, your priests, your scientists, society....all of these things altered your circle.

The more "unique" the circle you feel becomes, is in reality your pride, clouding your vision. You must remove your ego from this link! It does not belong there!

It matters to me not that you are an atheist or deist, christian or muslim, alien, or human. It was not my goal to sway anybody to any side or prove that I know something that you don't. In fact, we all know this but some don't want to hear.
This is your world....take charge!

I implore all those on here to be mindful of your neighbor, when discussing topics as heated as religion or maybe 9/11, try to see where they are coming from. Do not resort to hate as a result of your pride.

Let us build bridges not walls.


[edit on 8/18/2010 by The Endtime Warrior]

[edit on 8/18/2010 by The Endtime Warrior]

reply to post by The Endtime Warrior


Well said Endless.

It's sad to see topics get so heated and confrontational. While I have nothing against a good debate or argument, when it gets to the point of people replying with strong emotional impulse I fail to see how that's going to get us anywhere.

It's difficult though, especially in today's society where we have a lot of irritants continuously poking us with a stick that we desperately want to push away, but cant. This frustration bubbles up on topics that concern us personally here on ATS. I'm still new to this particular forum but have seen a lack of respect elsewhere both with people I've engaged with as well as on the internet.

I believe a post like this cannot cure anything, but it will help people to think about how they will formulate their posts in the future until they either forget this as an issue once again or learn. It's a difficult lesson to learn.

S&F

reply to post by Tarrok


Danke Schon, Tarrok. I apologize if that is not correct in German. I believe I just said , thanks very much. I had hoped this would do more good than harm, I understand it won't change the world, I wanted people to stop and take a look in the mirror. We are all in this together, lets not fight and try to find some common ground. Thanks again for your comments.

reply to post by The Endtime Warrior


Your quote that There can be only one truth, is actually a well established one in ancient Hindu texts. Madame Helena Blavatsky also used the sanskrit text that translates "there is no religion higher than the one truth" at the beginning of her book The Secret Doctrine.

All that aside I agree with your tenet: There is only one truth, the problem is whether we can percieve it.

reply to post by Shadowfoot


"There can only be one truth" and the idea of a perfect circle was something I had learned in philosophy class....unfortunately it was a class I dropped out of! What can I say I'm lazy...Either way just trying to get the point across that the truth is what we all strive for, but lets not get there by trampling over others. Thanks for your comments.

[edit on 8/18/2010 by The Endtime Warrior]

Well said. And yes...it all depends on whether we can not only perceive it, but find it to begin with through our perceptions.

“The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end. there it is." ~Winston Churchill

I enjoyed reading this man, and I applaud the kindness you show here. What you do present though is a hypothetical situation (assuming that there is an entity to bear witness is hypothetical, and a belief that you have to have faith in, there is nothing to substantiate it other than conjecture.), and I think that for people to truly get a long they can't be tolerant of one another's differences so much as they work towards an end to remove those constraints and have one common view. So I think by debate and argument, as well as philosophy we can achieve these things. Being tolerant of other peoples fundamentalist viewpoints and/or religious beliefs is in err, and letting ignorance procreate is intolerable to the eyes of history, it creates war and destroys lands and families. Eventually one ideal will become more power hungry than the other and wish to control the Earth, and so the world turns...

I agree with you for the most part, people need to set aside their differences. There is nothing to substantiate any of their arguments, so there will always be someone who knows better because we've created a better way of thinking already.

reply to post by ~Lucidity


Perception is the key. Thanks for the words ~lucidity

reply to post by signoregregorio


I realize "the entity" takes some suspension of belief. It was only to drive home a point. Im glad you got something out of it. Thanks for your comments.

reply to post by The Endtime Warrior
I can't argue with anything you said.

Nicely put!

S&F.

reply to post by butcherguy


Thanks for your support, butcherguy. I am humble

This entity exists outside of our universe.

How about instead ...is omni-present, is everywhere, even within everyone and everything.

The more "unique" the circle you feel becomes, is in reality your pride, clouding your vision. You must remove your ego from this link! It does not belong there!

Exactly ......everyone's opinion is subjective and relative to what they themselves know, biases, upbringings, come uppins, etc.

But this in itself is not relative to anything.....

Originally posted by dominicus
How about instead ...is omni-present, is everywhere, even within everyone and everything.

Whatever suits you. However in my understanding of the universe. Not everyone was present in the beginning. So this is why I chose to say it this way. The entity was used for sake of argument. I do not stand before anyone and say that this is God.

[edit on 8/18/2010 by The Endtime Warrior]

[edit on 8/18/2010 by The Endtime Warrior]

reply to post by The Endtime Warrior

Actually, Shadowfoot said it first, and I was pretty much agreeing.

reply to post by ~Lucidity


But his words are not yours, so I thank you. Thanks for the clarification, nonetheless.

Hey Ew, always good to see you put some positivity up here, as a reminder of some of our more promising abilities and responsibilities.
Sometimes just a little tweak in our awareness brings newfound insight that can alter our perspective as well as behavior.

Out of interest and curiosity, I studied various religions in college and one of the things I took away from it was something our teacher pointed out. He said with all of our differences, West and East, religious and non-religious, passive aggressive, etc, it is just as important to notice our similarities and just how close we really are with each other, and how the world's problems affect everyone, not just a particular group all of the time.

I also learned to take each experience in life as a lesson to be learned, therefore, even something negative can be absorbed and reflected in a positive light. I'm not saying just stay positive all the time no matter what, that is impractical. However, our overall attitude can shape our experiences. So when judgement arises within, recognize it, then take it further into the realms of tolerance and forgiveness. When we notice something different about others, look to see what we have in common as well.

Empathy is a great unifying trait. In fact, when I watched the Nuremberg trials, the psychologist that interviewed the nazi's said the one thing he noticed overall was the complete lack of empathy amongst them. So in my opinion, absence of empathy equates to disharmony and potential downright evil, whereas a healthy empathetic view encompasses compassion , understanding and connectedness.

So the "one truth" you speak of contains the good and the bad, but it is up to us as to how to cultivate our perspectives and process our experiences, which I believe means using our hearts as much as our minds.

Peace

Edit To Add: another member brought this doc up and I watched it last night. The last 3rd of it goes a bit out there, but overall it was well done and inspiring. It is supposed to begin where What The Bleep Do We Know ended.
Spirit Space

[edit on 19-8-2010 by speculativeoptimist]

reply to post by speculativeoptimist


Very insightful reply. Whether its pride about our race, our religious beliefs or lack thereof, scientific views, we need to all remember that once we strip away all of these tenets we hold dear, then what is it thats left? Empathy, I do believe is something we are lacking and I fear the more we progress with technology and science the more we move away from this careful center of balance. The good thing about life is that no matter what age, its never too late to to make a change.

Yeah, I think alethic relativist (one who thinks that "truth" is different for different people) is pretty crazy. Even thinking that, I also think I understand where they are coming from. Different people believe different things, and it hurts people's feelings when we tell them they are wrong, so they want to get rid of absolute truth.

Well, I think we can be kind without being crazy. For one, in a lot of matters, we may never KNOW the truth, that doesn't mean that it isn't there. For example, some physicists say that while string theory is fascinating and elegant mathematics, it could never be proven or disproven empirically. The things going on according to that theory are at such a level we can't actually test for them, according to some physicists. So, if those physicists are right, then we could never KNOW whether string theory is true or not, that doesn't make the truth of it relative, however.

So, in general, I think people need more epistemic humility. Maybe they should read more John Locke or something. *shrugs*

reply to post by FrostyPhilosopher


I've previously thought that maybe the world is tailored unique for each individual. That those who believe in christ, will be justified in their perceptions that the bible will indeed come true. Buddhists will reach their zen or Nirvana. Rael will be saved by his alien brothers. Atheists will take refuge in knowing that a god really isn't there.

As a solipsist I've often struggled with making sense of everything in life, everything seemed just too convenient for it to be real....at least from my perspective.

It then dawned on me that I dont define the universe. The universe is what it is. I am only one point of view. I could be right but there is so much chance that I am wrong. Rather then point fingers and tell everyone else they are wrong I should be spending more time looking in the mirror, searching for the answers in myself.
Thanks for your reply.

Maybe there is no such thing as Truths.

At the start of the circle is the beginning of life. As you live and experience your circle starts to form. It is the everyday, ordinary "stuff" that forms your circle.

At the end of your cycle your circle is complete and your are at the beginning again. So, in my opinion, the end merely becomes the beginning once again in search of Truth. No beginnings, no ends.

Thus, no Truths. Only Being.