What is truth? Telekinesis is not real, dragons have never existed, and aliens are fantasy. Are these statements that are based on facts or the lack of them? How often do you ask yourself if what you learned is truly reality?
Recently the US government confirmed that there have been encounters with “unidentified aerial phenomena”. In the past the public referred to these as “unidentified flying objects” a.k.a UFO’s. And thus what was once considered fantasy by many, comes 1 step closer to being reality. Revelations such as these bring about the question what is ‘the truth’ and what/who determines ‘the truth’. Does one consider something the truth when it sounds logical to them or when it has been confirmed by a source which they trust? Or is it only true when one has confirmed/experienced it themselves?
Currently we live in an age where the information highway (internet) seems to have an answer for all our questions. Just as our brains have developed filters to prevent overstimulation, many search engines on the internet develop tailored preferences which cause a filter on the information received. Our natural filter protect us, as it helps us focus on possible dangers. Just as this filter protects us it also causes us to miss information which could determine what is truth.
Here is a simple example: Where an amateur will paint a wall and it seems good, a professional could walk into the room and notice the slight differences and determine it a terrible paint job. This difference is simply due to the fact that they look at the wall with different filters on. The professional has developed an eye for detail when it comes to painting. We use the word ‘develop’ but in actuality he simply turned off certain filters. In this case which one speaks the truth? Is it the amateur who says it is a good paint job or the professional who has shut off certain filters and thus sees more details?
And what is the truth when filters have been pre-placed on the information one receives? 1 missing piece of information can drastically change one’s perspective on a matter. Does this 1 piece of information actually change ‘the truth?’ Before the general public had access to the internet. Information was shared via books and newspapers. Just like our brains the author would filter and determine what is/should be ‘the truth’. The great thing about living in the information age is that even with the preferences one search engine might place, there are others which let us search without a filter. This gives us the possibility of finding all pieces of the puzzle and come to our own conclusions.
The great question is, would the conclusions we come to be ‘the truth’?