Truth. What is truth? Philosopher's have been asking this question for centuries, and they've finally come up with their answer in the past few decades.

Their answer: there is no truth.

Well, that sucks for humanity I guess, at least if they are right. Before I continue though, I would like to make a quick point. Saying that there is no truth, that is a truth in itself. And considering there is no truth, at least in the philosopher's mind, that's seems sketchy. And if what they say is true, which it can't be because "truth" doesn't exist to them, then humanity has a huge problem, one that we can not fix.

This new philosophical theory is known as Post-modernism, and related to post-modernism is Existentialism, Pluralism, Nihilism, Reletivism and any other of the -ism's for the most part.

While all of them have their differences, they all have one thing in common, no single supreme being, no God. And all of this packed into two little words.

I won't bore you with the details of each of these -ism's, but I would like to mention a few things about them.

1. Post-modernism- of, relating to, or being a theory that involves a radical reappraisal of modern assumptions about culture, identity, history, or language. In other words, a complete overhaul of society needs to be done, religion must be executed, and Christianity might be the only thing that stands in its' path. Problem: post-modernism claims that there is very little wrong in the world. Take a look around and tell me if that is true, because it isn't. Post-modernism also says there is no truth, which means there is no God, which means man is God. And if man is God, then we are in deep trouble.

Does that mean all decisions that man makes is bad? Of course not. But many are, and those are more easily noticed than the good ones.

2. Existentialism- a chiefly 20th century philosophical movement embracing diverse doctrines but centering on analysis of individual existence in an unfathomable universe and the plight of the individual who must assume ultimate responsibility for acts of free will without any certain knowledge of what is right or wrong or good or bad. In other words, we must take the consequences of our actions, and if their is an eternity, we are judged by those actions. Problem: if we are to be judged by our actions, then we should all burn in hell.

3. Pluralism- the theory that all paths lead to where they say they end. In other words, the Christian gets to Heaven, the Muslim gets to paradise, etc, the only rule is, however, that you cannot say your beleif is better than mine. The problem with this theory is that why would the "gods" of so many religions all agree to let everyone reach the endpoint of where that religion aims? And if the "gods" of these religions are all powerful, as many of them claim to be, then why would they allow a powerless being who would be beneath them be a "god"?


So, what are some of the ending possibilities of these philosphies? What are the consequences? All actions and beleifs have consequences, even an existentialist would agree with that.

We are even seeing some of the consequences now: the decay of morals in society, the loss of some religious freedoms worldwide, an increasing number of wars.

If man is God, as the post-modernist says, we are doing a pretty crappy job, and here's why: We let our actions be affected by the actions of others around us. In other words, we let outside forces control what we do, and that's not the definition of the word god, in any culture.

All of this from two simple words that have become so dangerous to the world: Why not? And all of this I have written only scratches the surface.

So what is truth for you?

This is a cop-out. Truth is any statement that is consistent with reality.

Wow that was hard wasn't it. If you mean universal truth, well we need to define the extent of the universe first and thats the problem, scope creep.

Keep your scope simple. In context to a decimal number system 2+2=4 is a true statement.

Well, I know that my truth is not necessarily somebody else s
truth. Which in my eyes doesn't make either truth less valid.

So what is truth for you?

or it could be totally untruthful on another planet of species we don't know about

In the end many have common ground in agreeing to a truth on something, but there will always be someone who doesn't find it truthful even if it is as simple as 2+2 equation.

Thats true. People will always disagree and that is their right. If others were not constantly ready and willing to argue the "truth" of their own personal subjective reality, then the General Religion forum would probably not exist due to lack of arguable material. We would simply all believe in the pod people or something and no one would bother to argue their own personal definition of truth.

Well like my favorite professor always said

"Follow your Bliss" - Professor Joseph Campbell

(never met him but sure wish I did when he was alive)

May everyone find the Truth that works best for them for they are the ones who have to be satisfied before going to bed each day.

Not me. I hope everyone instead learns to use the tools of analysis and never settle for a personal truth that isn't within 10 placeholders of a perfect 100% consistency with reality.

Actually I am being anal I am too lazy to hold myself to that definition so instead ill say within the standard margin of error for statistics 95% (.98 confidence) will have to do.

So you can be like me and claim no truth that cannot be analyzed, or else face the wrath of skeptical face <<

Truth is subjective; simply how you perceive it... how do you know that your life isn't just an illusion? How can we be certain that we are the only "intelligent" species in the universe or multiverse?

Right. I was thinking the exact same thing myself. People tend to like to project the fallacy that there is no truth and its all "subjective" when you are trying to convince them that what their personal concept of truth is, falls short in the grim face of objective reality.

I think we are probably just too analytical for our own good Jeremy.