Truth

So, of course, today, again, I am reminded that the more I learn, the less I "know." Why do I pay good debt-ridden money to essentially get more confused? Because I'm really a lackadaisical dimwit and it makes me feel like less of a trained monkey in society. But more than that, I believe that all the great "ah ha" moments in my life were fist preceded by an even greater level of confusion. In other words, my confusion eventually leads to a more fuller understanding.

The point of all this drivel: Truth. Truth is my newest fascination. Not because I'm a charlatan, nor am I a purist. I just mean that I have spent a good deal of my misattributed mental energy lately contemplating if truth can really be defined. These thoughts culminated in today's discussion of Non-fiction in my writing class. When I asked the professor how you can really call something non-fiction and something else fiction concerning people's histories or 'myth,' my prof posed it to the entire class, requesting a definition. My group member and I tried a multiplicity of perspectives to attack this challenge.

We, logically, first decided that Non-fiction is nothing but a fancy way of saying NOT fiction. But we all know that we cannot simply define something through negation alone. So we tried to define fiction... Which lead us to the essence of both genres and the label of truth or imagination or real and unreal. All of these proved to be unsatisfactory extremes. There are gradients in human understanding. Language, try as it might, is only a tool, one means of communicating complex understandings and very personal realities in a more generally understandable way.

As we discussed further, and my mind expanded nearly to the point of implosion, I realized that I might be satisfied by saying that this is a very difficult thing to define, as truth is subject to different individual truths and realities. The more that you try to definitely define or contain it, it escapes you.

That said. My truth is mine, and I can respect other truths (even verisimilitude) as just as valid, and just as real as my truth is to myself. So, lesson learned for today. I have always thought that language was so limiting. Now, I just have a more complicated (perhaps deeper) understanding of why.

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary (Beta Version)
truth1 [truːθ] noun — plural truths [truːθz, truːθs]
trueness; the state of being true
Example: I am certain of the truth of his story; `What is truth?' asked the philosopher.
Arabic: صِدْق، صِحَّه
Chinese (Simplified): 真实性，真理
Chinese (Traditional): 真實性，真理
Czech: pravdivost; pravda
Danish: sandfærdighed; sandhed
Dutch: waarheid
Estonian: tõde
Finnish: totuus
French: vérité
German: die Wahrheit
Greek: αλήθεια
Hungarian: igazság
Icelandic: sannleikur

Italian: verità
Japanese: 真実
Korean: 진실(성)
Lithuanian: tiesa
Polish: prawda
Portuguese (Brazil): verdade
Portuguese (Portugal): verdade
Romanian: adevăr
Russian: правдивость; истина
Slovak: pravda; pravdivosť
Spanish: verdad
Swedish: sanning
Turkish: gerçeklik, doğruluk
truth2 [truːθ] noun
the true facts
Example: I don't know, and that's the truth; Tell the truth about it.
Arabic: حَقيقَه
Chinese (Simplified): 真相
Chinese (Traditional): 真相
Czech: pravda
Danish: sandhed
Dutch: waarheid
Estonian: tõde
Finnish: totuus
French: vérité
German: die Wahrheit
Greek: αλήθεια
Hungarian: valóság
Icelandic: sannleikur

Italian: verità
Japanese: 事実
Korean: 사실
Lithuanian: tiesa
Polish: prawda
Portuguese (Brazil): verdade
Portuguese (Portugal): verdade
Romanian: adevăr
Russian: правда
Slovak: pravda
Spanish: verdad
Swedish: sanning
Turkish: gerçek, hakikat
See also: truthful, tell the truth, to tell the truth

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary (Beta Version), © 2000-2006 K Dictionaries Ltd.

Me? Create change? No way.

Alright, I haven't posted for an insanely long time. School and work keep me quite busy these days. But really, what is this for if not for my own personal gratification?

So, what has inspired me to write today? I'm befuddled by our apparent inability to see what is really in front of us sometimes. What am I talking about? You might have something in mind already. What image pops into your head when you read WASTE? Anything?

The light you leave on without thinking?
The perfectly good food you left in your refrigerator until it grew mold because leftovers aren't as appealing?
The two paper towels you use to wipe your hands, when one would do?
The paper you toss in the garbage, because a recycling bin isn't as convenient?
The perfectly good cell phone that you toss because you get a new shiny one with your new contract?
The computer you leave on because it's annoying to wait for it to boot up?

I'm not critiquing you. Don't get me wrong. It's me. It's us. It's our culture. But it doesn't take guilt or protests to change these things.

Flick off a light if you leave the room.

Buy what you need, and remind yourself that not everyone's refrigerators are as full, and not everyone even has a fridge to fill.

When you use a paper product, respect the fact that it comes from a finite natural resource and use only what you need to use. Air dry. Reuse and recycle paper.

Donate old cell phones, and any other unwanted household items.

Simply turn off electronics when not in use. The energy savings are immense.

You're going to have to learn to do it sooner or later. So why not be proactive, and feel good about something. We don't have endless resources. It just takes an individual, opening their eyes to what has been in their power to change all along.