On One Hand; On The Other Hand; On The Other Hand... or Why Truth Doesn't Always Matter

I've covered a few of the basics: truth, meaning, perception, and language. Not bad for the first week.

While some (much?) of the prior ramblings might be too esoteric for many people, it is important (to me) that an attempt be made to set the ground rules. We may or may not have similar experiences and perceptions of our existence and, therefore, may or may not mean the same thing when we make a statement purporting to accurately communicate something.

Can a Yanomami indian communicate (language differences aside) with a Polish mathematician in any meaningful way? They are products of such vastly different environments, experiences, and perceptions of the world. Well, yes, technically they can communicate and even learn from each other. But human history has shown that it is more likely that people are slow to learn from each other and quick to become "territorial" in their behavior and beliefs. What we don't understand, we don't accept. Or, worse, what we don't understand, we attack.

One might argue that attacking what we don't understand is simply a "survival mechanism"; a necessity during mankind's violent history. The flip side of that argument is that our violent history is caused by that "survival mechanism". As you might have read in the link above, for the "primitive" Yanomami tribes, violence is common... 1/4 of the men will die from violence.... They get along nicely with close neighbors, but fight the ones farther away. That happens despite sharing an environment and culture. They are "not us."

This territorial imperative seems to be part of our DNA. Without sufficient resources to nourish and sustain ourselves, our DNA will perish. Thus, while we, as a species, have gradually taken command of our immediate environment, we have yet to come to grips with the basic drive to stake out our territory... the major force behind all of man's conflicts. This imperative doesn't ask about "truth", it only demands our devotion. One could argue that Mars, the god of War, is still the greatest of the gods. We have been bred to be Mars' soldiers; it is our nature.

Whoa! That's a bit harsh, isn't it. Well, yes, warfare is territoriality taken to its extreme. Humans do cooperate, but cooperation becomes more difficult as the scale increases. We form "coalitions" and "alliances" where we perceive advantages or benefits. But the basic drive to acquire and maintain our own territory remains strong. It is "my car" or "my house" or "my wife" or "my school" or "my town" or "my country". "They" want what is "mine".

Now mankind has recognized that constant warfare is really not too beneficial, so we set up mechanisms to deal with the territorial imperative before it becomes extreme action. We organize into groups and interact with other groups in proscibed ways to avoid destructive interaction. Hence, laws, customs, conventions, and Friday night football games. Well, think about it!

6 or 7 billion people trying to respond to their own territorial imperative. Ain't gonna work without some way to avoid physical violence at every turn. So, we establish the "rules of the game" and keep a strong military force to make sure the rules are followed. But that 17 lb. dog chasing the 75 lb. dog out of the yard is still part of our DNA... and it doesn't really consider the "truth" of its foolishness in challenging a much larger and stronger animal.

So, what am I saying here? Simple. Truth is a construct, an abstraction, that we want to find, but often ignore. We fail to look deeply enough into our own nature to see what colors our perspective red when the truth may only be revealed in white light. We believe that if we are "logical" enough, we can get to the truth, but logic has its limitations (see my previous discussion).

Then perhaps we need to take a different tack. You remember the Polish mathematician I mentioned? He is a product of his environment... or rather of how his environment has been reformed. His mathematics may be valid, but his perspective on the world... and his behavior... would be greatly affected if he were suddenly transplanted into the reality of the Yanomami. Two Jaguars plus two Anacondas equal 4... what? Potential killers? The point is that the reality of the Amazon is different than the reality of Poland. Yes, guns work in both places. But fire ants are not an issue in Poland. What is relevant frames what is "true"? No, it's just that some "truths" might be irrelevant.

Were the Goths invaders of the Roman Empire or were they subjugated people who rebelled against the Empire? Were the Crusades "holy wars" or simply excuses to expand power and territory? Was the "100 Years' War" the fault of the French or the fault of the English? Was Christopher Columbus a great explorer or a flim-flam man? Was Thomas Jefferson a noble leader or an abusive human? Was communism an effort to share the wealth or an effort to gain unbridled power? Is Islam a religion of peace or a religion of war?

The answers are: Yes!

Territoriality, relevance, contradiction... the stuff of life! Truth: somewhere out there... maybe.