Every time I look into one of these metaphysical topics, I run into Einstein and his views and I always find myself agreeing with him. I promise I'm trying to be objective and look at other people's ideas, too, but he believed that reality, the real world, exists outside of and apart from the independent observer, even as he stated that each of us observes and experiences reality differently depending on our motion, as in standing still vs. speeding train or speed of light. Others say that truth is a construct, a communal agreement agreed upon by all parties, up for interpretation or negotiation. Ooh, the truth is what we make it? That's a tough one for me to swallow. It goes against my grain.
So, what about that search for truth? Is it necessary? Are there many truths? Can you have yours and me have mine and both of us be equally right? Did the elk bump into my son as my son perceives, or did my son bump into the elk as the elk would have it? Well, that probably doesn't matter. As Sancho Panza says, "whether the rock hits the pitcher or the pitcher hits the rock, it's going to be bad for the pitcher." *smile*
Frankly, I find people who have decided what the truth is and are looking merely to prove they are right tiresome, don't you? What if the truth is a complete surprise? Can you give up your preconceived point of view and embrace it? Change may be a constant, but it is also a constant irritant. We prefer the womb, the original nest, where everything was known and predictable and comfortable.
Whatever the truth is, I have this conviction that it is our obligation to seek it and find it and not accept any shiny fool's gold version of truth, however appealing. Painful truths, unexpected truths, delightful truths, our lives are full of each, and then there are the mysterious undetermined truths like what are ghosts and can we determine whether they are real or the imaginary constructs of troubled minds.
I'm a mystery fan; enjoy reading them and watching them, and we all know the great detective is the one who refuses to settle for the easy, convenient truth, who rules nothing out, who examines all possibilities with as much objectivity as he or she can, and in the end, we sigh with relief, because the truth is finally out. In the game of hide and seek with truth, we are the seekers; we must always be the seekers.
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