Many people think that truth is a single entity: everything can be compared with the single truth, and verified.
I disagree. Not only do I assume that truth is a multitude, I assume that different situations measures of truth can give different answers of whether something is true.
(Please note: I strongly believe that truth -- or truths -- exist. I just do not believe that when we talk about truth, we always mean the same system.)
Here's three examples of what I mean:
Mathematical Truth:
Truth in mathematics means that if a person accepts axioms A, B, and C , then they will accept theorems X, Y, and Z, they will reject theorems X', Y', and Z', and they will have nothing to say about theorem W.
The catch is the axioms. If you agree with them, then you can use the theorems. If you disagree with the axioms, then that branch of mathematics has nothing to say about truth. You have to decide whether the axioms apply.
(Hard) Science Truth:
Truth in science means that if every time that a specific situation occurs, then specific results will happen. The results might be probabilistic ("A 1g mass of uranium placed in front of a detector for x milliseconds has a 50% chance of setting off the detector") or descriptive ("When I put food in front of my dog, she eats 90% of the time.").
The catch is that the situation must be testable: it must be possible to re-witness the same situation.
Historical Truth:
Truth in history means that something happened.
The catch is that historical truth is difficult to prove. One can read records, ask people who were there, or examine physical evidence -- but very few historical events can be proven to have taken place.
These three kinds of truth are not the same.
Mathematical but not Scientific or Historical:
Many abstract forms of mathematics aren't related to science; they're studied for their own beauty. The situations never happen in reality, so they can't be observed even once.
Scientific but not Mathematical:
Some science is observational, not mathematical. Biology has many instances of this: mapping genes to their effects uses deep algorithms, but the resulting map hardly uses mathematics. (If you want the real difference between science and mathematics, learn the difference between inductive and deductive logic.)
Historical but not Scientific or Mathematical:
Any event that happens only once in history -- the crowning of a particular monarch, a battle of a war -- cannot be repeated. Therefore, it's not scientific. (And I have no idea how to link the Battle of Waterloo with axioms or theorems.)
Here's where I get controversial: I don't believe that I've listed all of the forms of truth.
Fiction, even fantasy, has its own truth. If the setting isn't consistent, if the characters don't act believably, then it rings false.
Music, also, has its own truth. Only a few patterns of sounds are music to our ears -- the rest is noise.
Finally, religion has its own truth. It has the power to move people to do great works, and to die for their beliefs. Denying its truth is to deny a large dimension of many people's lives.
What do you think? Take care, all.
This essay first appeared in Fluorescent Dreams Wax Cylinders. You may copy this essay, provided you also copy the link back to the original source. Fnord!
Visit Bird-like dinosaur forces rethink (BBC News).
Then click on 'enlarge image'.
These tiny emus are ADORABLE!
(And the new information about evolution is neat, but slightly off. Powered flight evolved more than twice: IIRC, insects, birds, and bats all evolved powered flight separately.)