🔵 By Steven L. Neugent. Photo by lauragrafie.
What is truth? How do we come about knowledge? How do we come to the knowledge of the TRUTH? Truth has been searched for since the beginning of time. The five ways of knowing in order of veracity.
1. Revelation – (Knowledge given by God.)
2. Empiricism – (The scientific method.)
3. Tradition – (Social knowledge.)
4. Instruction – (Formal schooling.)
5. Intuition – (It feels right.)
REVELATION – Just as it implies is a revelation by God. When God gives us knowledge we know that it is true. All religions have revelations, but they are bounded by faith in that knowledge.
EMPIRICISM – Is the scientific method. The art of experimentation and results. Within this methodology we understand that no matter how much we test, we can never come to an absolute truth. Hypothesis are put forward and refuted and tested. If they withstand this scrutiny they become theories. After enduring the test of time, they become laws. All science must be bounded by faith, the same as revelation is bounded by faith. So in essence we must have faith in the veracity of all knowledge regardless of its source.
TRADITION – Is the knowledge that is passed down to us by our families, social knowledge. The rights and wrongs of life. The institution of family knowledge, how to raise your children. These things that are passed down through the generations. The apprenticeship/master relationship.
INSTRUCTION – (formal schooling). Before the printing press and universities, all knowledge was passed down through the master/apprentice association. During this time when a master died all his knowledge died with him. The invention of the computer, and the internet has expanded and speeded our access to knowledge exponentially. It has also bred a disdain of our older people. We used to think of our older generation as white haired experienced wise men. Today Google has replaced the old wise men.
INTUITION – Or school of hard knocks, is the feeling that this is the right answer. If it feels right, well 50% of the time it may be true. Consider this: If we make our decisions by our emotions we almost always go astray. It is not an intellectual decision. Our brains are a chemo-electro organ. Consider anger or fear – they are mind killers. They disrupt our thinking processes. Tradition tells us: “Count to ten before we take action when we are angry.”
This 10 second count allows the chemistry in our brain to equalize. A wise choice.
PHILOSOPHY – Greek for the love of wisdom is the study of truth. Our society and knowledge has created our level of civilization. Our civilization hangs by a thread of knowledge over an abyss of chaos. At any time we, our society, could fall to a level of chaos that could wipe out all knowledge. Albert Einstein once said, “I don’t know what kind of weapons we will fight world war III with, but world war IV will be fought with sticks and stones.”
Maybe our culture should put a higher priority on truth and knowledge, it has given us so much!