JuliaHamilton

Miller
APLang.&Comp.
20April2015
Truth.
Theinitialthoughtthatoccurstomewhensomeoneaskwhatmydefinitionoftruthis,is
beinghonest.Truthishonesty.ButthenIthink,honestyisbeingtruthful,whichtome,makesno
senseastheymeanthesamething.Ivegrownupthinkingthattheskyisblueduetotheoceans
reflections,yetweveneverbeenexplainedwhyistheoceanblue.Maybebecauseoftheskys
reflection?Mostlikelynot.
BeforeItrytocomprisemydefinitionoftruthandattempttofathomthisimmensetopic,
IwanttoexplainwhatIbelievethattruthisnot.Truthisnotformedthroughwhatpeoplewantto
hearattimesitcanbeupsettingandhurtful.Truthisalsonotformedthroughwhatiscapableof
beingunderstoodtruthcanoftenbeoverwhelmingtoaccept.Thewayinwhichoneinterprets
theideaoftruthvaries.Eachformingtheirindividualizedopinionaccordingtotheirpersonal
experiencesandthewayinwhichtheyexpresstheirethicalarguments.

Truth,tosimplifyandputitinLaymansterms,istellingithowitisandbeingstraight
up.Beingblatantandutmosttransparentaboutwhatyoubelievein,nomattertheconsequences
ordiscrepancies.Truthisrealitybecausewhatweknowastrue,isrealandcanbeproven.
Realityisthepresentstateofthingsastheyexist,notimaginaryandabstractideas.Yet,to
contrastmyownviewpoint,truthisalsobiasedbasedonourperceptionandpersonalbeliefs.

Aspreviouslystated,truthisrealityandcanbeseenandproven.Forexample,itistrue
that2+8=10andthattheEnglishalphabetcontains26letters.ItisalsotruethatJohnF.Kennedy
wasassassinatedin1963andthattheGreatWallofChinais5,500.3mileslong.These
statements,alsoconsideredfacts,canbeproventhroughvariousmethodsofmeasuring.Whether
measuringmathematically,linguisticallyormedically,thesefactscanbeproven.Alsoseenin
biology,weareabletolearnandcomprehendtheoriessuchasreproductionandecological
growth.Thesetheoriescanbeproventhroughscientificstudies,experiments,andcollecteddata.
Althoughtheideaofevolutionisacontroversialone,certainaspectsofitcanbedemonstrated
throughouthistoryandtheearthinwhichfossilshaveimprintedthesoil.Incertaincases,the
proofcannotbeseenbutcanbeprovenaccordingtoourknowledgethisisillustratedperfectly
inDisneymovies.Disneyproductionssuchas
LionKing
,
Cinderella
and
SnowWhite
,the
animalsareabletocommunicatewiththehumansthroughspeakingEnglish.Weareunableto
communicatewithanimalsusingtheEnglishlanguage,whichmakesthataspectofthefilmsnot
true.Althoughamongstthespeciestheycommunicatewitheachotherthroughtheirparticular
language,humanscannottranslateanddecipherthenoises.
Astruthiscomprisedofprovenfacts,Ialsobelieveourindividualdefinitionsareformed
throughourindividualperceptionandpersonalbeliefs.Thisisdemonstratedinamultitudeof
topicsuchastheideaoftime.Timeisveryintriguingtome,asalongtimeagosomeonedecided
tocreateasundialandassignedthepositionofthesunwithacertainnumericalvalue,inwhich
wenowinterpretastime.Idonotbelievethatthisistrueasfarassettingthetimeand
determiningthecalendarwiththesunandstarsbecauseallovertheglobe,therearedifferent
timezonesandtheories.TheMayansandtheircalendarestimatedthattheworldwouldcometo

acatastrophicendin2012,yetthatneveroccurred,asourworldisstillintacttoday.Although
somehavenoconcernswiththistheoryasitcontinuestodeterminethetimeandhasbeen
acceptedworldwide,Idonotbelieveittobetrue.Ibelievethatthereisnotimeandthatitwasa
conceptcreatedbymankindinordertoorganizeandkeeptheworldontrack.
Weareabletograsptheconceptoftruththroughlearningandexperience,butalso
accordingtothefactsoftheworldandinthewaythattheyaffectourdailylife.Ibelieveitis
importanttoconstructindividualdefinitionsoftruthandexplainthewayinwhichweprocess
theconcept.AlthoughIdontbelievethatit'simportanttodefineittoothersduetoideasthatcan
bemisconstruedandinfluential,Ibelievethatitisimportanttohaveauniqueandpersonal
definition.
Nomatterwhoweask,onethingcanbetrue.Theskyisblue.Proventhroughlawsof
physics,thisisduetoscattering,notbecauseoftheoceansreflection.Ourideaoftruthisaltered
throughtheamountofexposurewehavetotheenvironmentandeducationalresources.IfIwere
tohavenottakenhonorsphysicsthispastyear,Iwouldstillbelievethattheskyisbluedueto
theoceansreflection,whichisnottrue.1

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