The Truth is Out There . . . ?

A famous catch phrase from the X-Files TV series about two FBI agents searching for evidence of alien life.
‘Truth’ is defined variously as ‘the quality or state of being true’, ‘that which is true in accordance with fact or reality’, ‘a fact or belief that is accepted as true’, or an idea of authenticity as in ‘truth to self’.
What all these are stating is that there is no empirical definition of truth – all they say is that ‘truth is truth’.
Many philosophical books and papers have been written on this subject, but they all point to one thing – truth is what we think it is.
Truth is not ‘out there’.
Truth in inside, ‘in here’.
Truth is how you and I perceive and understand things and situations.
Truth is based on what you and I individually see, hear, feel, taste and smell.
Truth is what we, based on our senses, believe to be ‘true’.
But then another conundrum arises.
Is something true because we ‘believe’ it, or do we believe something because to us individually it appears, through thought or observation, to be ‘true’.
Belief and truth are counterparts, in that we cannot believe in something that we don’t think is true and conversely, something cannot be true unless we ‘believe’ in it.
This is why many people struggle with ‘truths’ and ‘beliefs’ that are imposed on them by politics, religion, the media, and the systems of State including so called ‘education’.
There is no ‘universal truth’, there is only personal, individual truth.
Consider this.
You and I are sitting at a table having a meal together. You are on one side of the table; I am on the other.
What is the ‘truth’ of this situation?
I can see you sitting opposite me, I can hear the words you are saying, I can see what is going on behind you, the pictures on the wall behind you and so on.
You can see me sitting opposite you, hear the words I am saying, and see what is happening outside through the window behind me.
You and I are not seeing the same things, our truths of this occasion are different.
I am having a different experience to you, I cannot hear what I am saying (the sound of my internal voice is different to the sound you hear), I cannot see myself or what is going on behind me, and you are in a similar situation.
We are not even in the same place, your position in the universe is different to mine, we are facing opposite directions, we don’t know what each other is thinking, we are probably eating different food, and so on.
Our truths about this occasion are very different – ‘we had a meal together’ is as far as it goes, but that really doesn’t describe the truth at all.
We said different things to each other, heard different things, made different interpretations of the conversation, we were thinking different things to ourselves and drawing different conclusions about the truth of this meeting.
And there’s more.
A few weeks later we will go back in time and ‘remember’ the meal we had together.
What we remember in our conscious minds will be different to what ‘actually’ happened.
We may leave some things out, or even add some things in, and perhaps if we ‘remember’ the meeting after a year our record of the situation will have ‘developed’ further.
Our neural pathways change, they are not (as was previously ‘believed’ until quite recently) fixed or ‘cast in stone’.
We change our ‘memories’ all the time which means that we change our ‘truths’ all the time.
My ‘truth of life’, my ‘beliefs’ about life the Universe and everything, are different to yours.
Your ‘take on things’, your truths and beliefs, are different to mine.
We are told that there are certain ‘facts’ which we should believe to be true. At one time it was a ‘fact’ that the Earth was flat and stationary, and the Sun circled around above it. People were executed for refusing to believe that ‘fact’.
And we now believe that those people who still adhere to that ‘fact’ are ‘on another planet’ for not believing that the Earth is a sphere (or almost) and revolves around the Sun.
But their truth is their truth – for all we know they may be in an alternate Universe where their belief is a ‘fact’
What if everyone is in their own ‘alternate’ personal universe? Everyone has a different ‘truth’, a different ‘take’ on things and situations.
No two people can ever sense, understand or appreciate the same thing or situation at the same time in exactly the same way – everyone occupies a different space in the Universe no matter how close they are together physically.
Everyone is an individual, with their own truth, their own belief and their own individuation of the Universe. Everyone experiences the Universe in a different way – an alternate way.
Everyone, and every animate and inanimate thing is a separate expression of Universal energy and as so called ‘intelligent’ life forms we need to respect and understand that.
We each have different truths, different beliefs, and that brings responsibility.
You and I must ensure that our own truths are based on our experience gained through our senses and not ideas taken on board because someone else requires it or because it seems like a good idea or because others, ‘everyone else’, believe in a particular ‘truth’.
You and I must be ‘true to ourselves’ making sure that our beliefs and truths are really ‘ours’.
We must preserve and protect our own personal Universe because we are a unique and integral part of the whole. To do otherwise would disrupt and alter reality as it has done many times.