Journal Zero

I have to keep a journal for my Advanced Expository Writing class, so I've decided to post my entries on here.

What is truth? Many people through the ages have answered this question in a myriad of ways. Some feel that truth is different for every person, and every individual must discover their truth on their own. I do not agree with that view. I hold there is a universal truth to which we all are subject. Others equate truth with reality. This position is wrong. Truth is but one aspect of reality hidden in a shroud of darkness floating in a sea of lies.

This brings me to a major point; truth is inherently unknowable. Humanity cannot understand the entirety of truth in this universe. If we could we would be not unlike gods. Of course we are not gods, nor can we know of God (who is the personification of truth). The best that we can hope for is a partial understanding of truth. Even then we cannot be absolutely sure. This is the basis for scientific method; the use of observable, empirical, and measurable evidence to best outline at least a part of an objective truth. Scientific method is how we acquire new bits of truth while correcting ourselves should we discover errors in previous reasoning.

The basis for proper thought then is we know absolutely nothing. Socrates was right to show the people of Athens that they knew nothing, but he never supplied an answer to any of his own questions. He couldn't. The question for us, stemming from the search for truth is how to live our lives on partial or false information. We must use the information we have to live to the best of our abilities, and we must willing admit when we err and work to correct our mistakes, replacing ideas proven incorrect with ones more in line with our observations of the world around us.