How To Determine The Truth
They say that 'truth is in the eyes of the beholder'. In the age of fake news, it is more difficult than ever to tell true from false. So how can we decide what to believe? How can we know the right way forward when everyone seems to be dishonest? Philosophy, mathematics, law, and science all use different techniques to determine the truth and to define it. I recommend a better way to measure truth, and especially how truthful we are with ourselves: Truth is caring for others. Treating others poorly is the opposite of truth.
I recommend a better way to measure truth, and especially how truthful we are with ourselves: Truth is caring for others. Treating others poorly is the opposite of truth.
Kindness, or care for others, means that we relate to others with kindness and care, that we're thinking of their benefit. We don't have to know what's good for them and what's not; this isn't about what we know or don't know, but rather only about how we feel toward them. Through caring for others, we will also know how to treat them in a way that is good for them.
We really don't have to change ourselves in any way. All we need is to change how we relate to one another, our attitude toward others.
So to become truthful, we need to learn how to care about others, since our innate nature is concern for ourselves. To do that we need to place ourselves in an environment where we can consciously cultivate these feelings toward each other. Where we can show others that we're acting toward them in truth, meaning kindness, and they reciprocate that conduct. Even if we're all faking it till we make it, we're doing that consciously together because we know it will help us accelerate our human development.
So at the end of the day, truth is not something absolute. The measure of my truthfulness depends on the level of my kindness toward others. Our ultimate goal as humans should be to reach the highest level of kindness by correcting all our relationships. That is a good purpose worth striving for.
The great misconception is that we have to become different people to pull this off. But that isn't the case. We really don't have to change ourselves in any way. All we need is to change how we relate to one another, our attitude toward others. If we mean well for others, we are acting toward others in truthfulness. If we mean to harm others, we are acting toward them in falsehood. It is actually quite straightforward.
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The only thing that will change is the air between us. We'll learn to transform it from toxic (that's literally killing us) to having good vibes all around us so we can all flourish here together.
There is another saying, that only children and drunks tell the truth. There is truth to that because as we grow up and become more sophisticated, we cover up our bad intentions toward others. We take advantage of others and relate to them well only when it serves our interests. As a result, we have to hide our bad intentions from them, as well as from ourselves, since it is very unpleasant to think of ourselves as egoistic people.
The good news is that now we have an opportunity to turn all this around. We can change our inherent egoism and become truthful, kind people. But we can't do it alone. To change ourselves, we need to place ourselves in a social setting that constantly demonstrates to us that others are kind, or at least kinder than we are. Using envy in this way can elevate us from our current, self-centered disposition, to a state of concern for others. And changing our qualities from caring for ourselves to caring for others is regarded as changing from falsehood to truth.
We can't help but begin from falsehood. This is our inherent nature. This is how we were designed. But we should only use it as long as we need to in order to resolve that we want to change ourselves. Once we determine that we want to change, we need to learn to rise above our clashing egos, with the help of our environment that has the power to pull us out of our current state, so we can acquire more and more kindness.
We see that we are dependent on others when it comes to changing ourselves. So if we want to succeed, we need to see to it that many other people want to change themselves for the better too. It turns out that the individual and the society are dependent on each other, so if the society does not succeed, neither will the individual. ?
In conclusion I'd like to clarify, we don't need to change anything about ourselves such as our attributes and traits. People are mainly concerned about losing their uniqueness in this process, but that's not what this is about. The only thing that will change is the air between us. We'll learn to transform it from toxic (that's literally killing us) to having good vibes all around us so we can all flourish here together.
Education/ Research Specialist
2 年Great read as always! The influence of the environment is everything, it shapes our thoughts, desires, value systems, everything. So it all begins with what kind of environment we want to build for ourselves. We have such a great opportunity through social media to create a space that can be beneficial for all mankind, the question is what are we using it for, what is truly important in life? I think more and more people all over the globe are feeling this, that it comes down to how we relate to one another, in the home, workspace, at the supermarket, on the highway, etc. if our attitudes/ connections towards others are toxic, the outcomes are pretty clear to see. The results are manifesting like wildfire on all levels of Nature, we determine what will happen for the good or for the bad! “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” ―?Margaret Mead