How to find your truth
People say we live in a post-fact world, but the issue may be what the ‘truth’ is. Let’s explore facts, beliefs, truths, and the stories we tell ourselves.
People love the Daniel Patrick Moynihan quote, “You are entitled to your opinion. But you are not entitled to your own facts.” It’s an aphorism that drives me crazy. While it may be ‘factually’ correct, what people think are ‘facts’ can be a real problem. Sometimes we use ‘facts’ and ‘truths’ interchangeably. Yet not all facts are truths. Moreover, some ‘truths’ are really just beliefs. This has been a journey of understanding for me, which may not be done, but I wanted to share where I am on my trip.
I will try to explain how I see the differences and why I think these differences matter. When it comes to truth, I also want to try and understand where that comes from and how do we find it. I went to a Jordan Peterson lecture last week and it help me find a possible answer to that problem. That’s where I want to get to but first, we need to deal with facts, beliefs, and truths.
Facts and Truth
We all like things that make us feel comfortable in what we believe. Previously, we have talked about Confirmation Bias and its power. There can be no clearer example of the power of this bias when we consider what we think are our facts, truths, and beliefs. To unpeel this requires some time on definitions and I found a good piece here that can start us in the right direction. Let’s start with what a fact is.
Maybe it’s useful to think of 'facts' as something that exists in the present. They are things you can see visually and can quickly verify. That means facts are not things you believe or assume or have not observed yourself. As the article says, facts are things that can be "seen and heard, as well as proven by the other senses." On the other hand, truth is something that a person has come to believe – whether it is a fact or not. If you believe something is 'true,' then it is true to you. Another way to think about this is that facts principally answer the 'where' or 'when', and even 'how' questions, while truth answers 'why'.
A 'fact' is a reality that cannot be disputed or rejected in theory. Facts are not discovered, facts are not created, facts are simply acknowledged. Now compare this to a 'truth.' Truths are not discovered but created. Truths, as opposed to fact, are much more fluid and malleable. The confusion between the two has probably been responsible for more wars than anything in human history. Let's consider God, for instance.
I cannot empirically prove God exists, and therefore it is hard to argue the fact of a God. The fact that the bible is a book is a fact, and whether it is the word of God is a belief – a belief that may be your truth but a belief, nevertheless. The difference is vital if you are to have meaning in your life. Facts don't give you meaning; your truths give your life your meaning.
Sidebar: it occurs to me that it is poor thinking to take the extremes of anything and try and damn a whole group based on its outlying. This seems to happen most often around religious views. Sometimes it is between religions, and sometimes between believers and non-believers. While not religious myself, it has been my experience that when I meet religious people, it brings them comfort, joy, and meaning that usually have them giving back to the world. I believe that is their truth.
For some, this difference may feel like 'splitting hairs.' The argument starts with a statement like: is "2+2=4" a fact or a truth? The answer is it is both, but that doesn't mean they are the same thing. I also consider this idea an excellent example of reductio ad absurdum or reducing something to an absurd level to make a point. To the best of my research capability, no wars have been fought over '2+2' or any other facts, and many wars have been fought over truths, masquerading as facts. Given all of this, maybe I could update Moynihan's quote: You are entitled to your belief and the truths that underly them for you, but don't confuse them with facts and stories you tell yourself.
Not quite so snappy, but you get the point.
Beliefs and Truths
What I took away from the event (lecture, session, or something else) with Jordan Peterson was that getting to your truth was a journey. This is where separation may exist between what you believe and what your truth is. To explore the idea, let us use the lightning rod of Climate Change.
In the posting around Substitution Bias, we discussed how we swap difficult questions we can not answer with ones we can. In the Climate Change example, I know many people answer the question "what facts are there of climate change?" with 97% of all scientists agreeing. In this case, many people are substituting their 'proof' for those whose views they respect. In my definition, this is a basis for a belief not a truth. This is no different from you believing God exists because your preacher says they do. For this belief to become your truth, you need to take the journey of understanding, listening, questioning, and thinking.
Let's take the 97% example.
I did a quick Google search about the 97%, and it took me to a Wikipedia page. Now I am sometimes skeptical of Wikipedia, but on this subject, whatever bias, it would be exaggerated here (if it exists). Under the title of "Scientific consensus on climate change," the first sentence of the posting reads: "There is a strong scientific consensus that the Earth is warming and that this warming is mainly caused by human activities."
The words 'scientific consensus' is a highlight, so I went down that rabbit hole! Here is what it said: "Scientific consensus is the collective judgment, position, and opinion of the community of scientists in a particular field of study. Consensus generally implies agreement of the supermajority, though not necessarily unanimity."
So, the 97% is not a fact but the "collective judgment, position, and opinion" of a group. You can believe and accept that this is a right and intelligent group, but we don't know who is in that group unless you learn more. For this to be a truth, you need to dig deeper. I know many who have, and all the evidence reaffirm their beliefs, which becomes their truth. I also know some who have done the work and do not find the evidence they see as something they can make their truth. It will be different for each of us.
If you want to be precise, you could argue that the “97%” is a fact but it may be a fact about an “opinion.” That may be good enough for your beliefs, but I encourage you to explore more to make it your truth.
As you do your exploring, we need to continually ask questions about what we read. Take for instance this reporting by Fortune. Fortune, a publication most would think of as reputable, reported that Spotify ‘was’ under fire as 260 doctors ‘blast star podcaster Joe Rogan’s COVID claims.’ Quickly it became clear that the 260 (most sources say it’s 270) included a vet, an engineer, and a podcast host among other non-practicing medical professions. At least 100 of them reportedly hold Ph.D. degrees but do not regularly practice medicine. Whether we believe Joe Rogan should or should not be allowed to commentate on what he believes, or whether a non-practicing Ph.D. has a valid view is something we can discuss. But discuss we must before we accept these sorts of headlines.
Finding your truth
What I learned, because of attending the Peterson event, was that I needed to find my truths. The process of doing that is best achieved by reading, listening, arguing, debating, being wrong, and getting it right. You must test your truths – if you can’t then they are not truths.
As Nietzsche said “truth doesn’t mind being questioned. A lie does not like being challenged.” Now I wouldn’t say that all things that are not true are lies but if you are not willing to go the extra steps to debate someone else, or even yourself, then you should, in my world, accept that you have beliefs, not truths.
That does bring up at least two interesting questions.
1. Can you and I have different truths?
2. Can my truths change over time and if so, how can they both be truths?
Maybe these are questions for another day, and it is worth reading, discussing, arguing, debating, and exploring to get to those answers. Another question that emerges is what is lying? Lying is a deliberate attempt to mislead and say something you know not to be a fact. But that’s the subject of a different post.