Is truth always true?

Most of us have heard this fable about the blind people and the elephant. For those who haven't, the story involves six blind people who have never seen an elephant before and meet one on their way. All of them want to understand the elephant better and, hence, start trying to figure it out by touching it

• The first person grabbed the trunk and said, "The elephant is like a snake".
• The second touched the elephant's side and announced that "The elephant is like a wall".?
• The third touching the legs deduced, "The elephant is like pillars of a building".?
• The fourth, touching the tail, said, "The elephant is like a rope."
• The fifth, touching the ears, said, "The elephant is like a large fan".
• The sixth, touching the tusks, proclaimed, "The elephant is a spear".?

With six different perspectives, these six blind people, convinced by their own analysis and version of truth, never agreed with each other. They heatedly argued and stormed away with ill feelings about the other five.

We form our opinions and biases, which may or may not be true.?

I would not have been writing about this if it did not impact one's life, both personal and professional, hence this quick brain dump.

Our Truth is not Untrue but somewhat incomplete.

We encounter scenarios almost daily in life where we hear/read/experience things. Based on that one perspective, we decide/deduce our version of the truth, disregarding the possibility that another perspective/side exists, which we are unaware of before forming an opinion.

I am not dismissing what we know as untrue; I am just trying to change the vantage point from which one realizes that maybe we don't know the whole truth and that there exists a more extensive picture/ a different perspective of what we are unaware of. Maybe knowing all sides of the story will help you understand all the nuances and only then arrive at your version of truth.

Taking Sides

There are always multiple characters in any story, and the same story is very different from every character's perspective. The heroes have their own version of truth, which most of the audience also believes in. Still, at the same time, the villains also have their perspective, which justifies their actions.?

Who narrates the story changes the whole perspective. Until and unless one hears all the perspectives on the story, it is unfair to take sides. Yet we keep doing it, day in and day out.?

We form biases, beliefs, hatreds, likes and a million other things, hearing only one perspective and being the least bothered to find a different perspective.

Limiting Potential

People thought humans could never fly; they believed in the 4-mile barrier and countless other things which exist today would not have existed had brilliant minds chosen to accept the widely accepted truths.?

Having a single-track thought process hinders progress. It limits our beliefs to what the majority says or what is being said the loudest. It takes courage to ignore this and find your version of possibilities and truth.

Self-created Blind Spots

Humans are, by nature, programmed to function on limited information confirming our worldview. We constantly seek that validation. Due to the nature of work, most suffer from nutritional deficiencies at the workplace, which might lead to various physical problems. Still, most of us just brush it under the carpet because we know this is just stress and should be okay after the next vacation. This is dangerous and will lead to problems in the future.

There are a lot of other things that I could have written about. Still, I just wanted to get across a straightforward point:?

What we know as the truth might not be!

So always strive to gather different perspectives, don't jump to pick sides, don't be fixated on your perspectives, and most importantly, remember that something doesn't become the truth just because the majority says it or is being said the loudest.