In the Mix
"Do you want lies in your society?" Oh, the horror of that!
It does not matter where one looks — in all societies untruths are tolerated. That is to say, in any society there are untruths. These untruths are in common circulation. If we look for societies where only truth is tolerated we do not find that.
In early societies, it is “religion.” Even the persons in the societies do not necessarily believe this; it is cultural material for their society. Otherwise called: myth. With greats like Socrates and the figures of the “French Enlightenment,” which did not really enlighten anyone, the West developed the pretense of “truth” or the claim that they preferred the truth (veritas), but this is laughable (if I may say so).
So they say: science. They a gonna come up with truth — the truth. But the real truth is just what I done said already. In all societies, untruths are tolerated. In fact, this is a fundamental part of the society. Human beings do not have the capacity to speak absolute truth, all the time. Why should they?
I think it is mind-blowing how the latest myth is always announced to all directions as the truth. In fact, there are so many great examples I do not know which is “representative.” I’ll try to pick one, nevertheless.
(please proceed): In Salem, early America, people believed in witches. Witches were real; persons believed in it. Okay you don’t. But they did. Take it in: they believed it. But they cared about the truth, too. The question was that of whether a given person was one. Witches exist. We just do not know who it is. So, we need a trial. We want to establish the truth, don’t we?
I did not even work hard at that. I just thought of an example and then I went for it.
As I sit here (in Panera, because it is the only place where I won’t get rejected by the “good” politically correct people running the place), I am so happy to have a nice little coffee (and not get run out of the place as an undesirable) that my own thoughts have turned away form just being all about truth & untruth and just settle down to an abstract swirl of thought and image.
(“I am a very visual person” — that is another lie persons tend to offer us)
My mind is peaceful this morning; It’s a peaceful swirl this morning. Lies, fictions, untruths and fantasies mix in with all the other thoughts.
Ah—how relaxing!
Hi .. as you wrote "With greats like Socrates and the figures of the “French Enlightenment,” which did not really enlighten anyone, " ...As a direct consequence you are right, yet as impact, evolution, that is not true. Their works have traveled far and wide, across time and language. Have been even refined as well as debated. Enlightenment happens, as gradual change, yet not in the sense you wish or may want. Things like democracy, women's equality, better working conditions and labor rights are one outcome of such theories, yet we cannot say that the one person was directly responsible for the consequences, of the people you have mentioned (plus many more).