Wednesday, June 30, 2010

What is truth?

We've seen that when you look at the sun (which you shouldn't do directly) what you are actually seeing is the sun as it was eight minutes or so ago. But this pales into insignificance compared to when you look up at the stars at night. What you are then seeing is the stars as they were hundreds, thousands or even millions of years ago. And yet, if I were to come up behind you and say "Are those stars really there?" you would say "Of course they are - see for yourself". And that's it really - they are there because we can see them, and as nothing (except perhaps tachyons, if they exist) can travel faster than the speed of light, what we see defines reality for us. If I can see it, it exists, because it is impossible for me to know any different. So here's my basic premise - reality (truth) is the sum total of the information available to you. Problems arise when people have access to different information, or incomplete information. More to come.

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