The Truth, What Is It? T
he truth is that two gunmen The first and most basic answer to the world’s problems is the truth. Not subjective relative truth but truth itself. All solutions to all problems lie in the truth of the problem. In the truth is the solution. Without the truth we are lost, swimming in a sea of contradictions and arguments. Without truth we have untruths, lies, deception, and a sea of pain and suffering that goes on without end. Truth is what can set our courses straight in life and this is as true on a personal level as it is on an international one. World Psychology deals with the kind and level of truth that has the power to transform not only people but also society and the world itself. We are talking about potent truths, ones that probe around with our deepest identifications of being human and social beings. We are talking about the kind of truths that emerge only at certain intense times in history. It does not emerge when everything is just kind of humming along like it did in the nineties. It seems unfortunate but true that things will have to get worse before they get better. The daily routine in an open, American-style democracy Herbert was speaking here about the time when people getting groceries or gasoline in the suburbs of Washington (during the sniper crisis) carried them with “the kinds of fears and some of the defensive strategies we ordinarily associate with combat.” Paul Krugman wrote recently in the New York Times, “A smart terrorist understands that he is not engaged in conventional warfare. Instead he kills to call attention to his cause, to radicalise moderates, to disrupt the lives and livelihoods of those who would prefer not to be involved, to provoke his opponents into actions that drive more people into his camp.” William Safire, also of the Times, said in respect to the killings in the DC area, “If these weekday murders are the acts of a homicidal maniac and not part of a terrorist conspiracy, then surely the plotters of last year's devastating strikes at the Pentagon and New York's twin towers are saying: What a perfect follow-up, cheap and simple and maddening. Why didn't we think of that?” The example will not be lost; the media made sure of that. The cells of Al Qaeda are not inhabited by idiots, the model has been created, and people everywhere, especially in and near the world's great cities will be in danger of similar attacks. It is only when there is a crash or a crisis that people, in desperation, begin to open themselves to new truths, new ideas, for something to believe in because times become very bad, and suffering, anxiety and fear become more widespread. That is when people search for truth more deeply and that is when they find out about all the lies and deceptions. The people in Washington recently had a crash course in how weird the most ordinary of lives can become in a region contaminated by terror. The Israelis have had decades of such education. Some say the world is going crazy but perhaps what is seriously wrong has been wrong all the time and now the truth of that wrongness is just coming into plain view. To divide the world into good and evil, The world could be divided many different ways, and is, but in this chapter lets divide people into those who love the truth and embrace it when it dawns on them what the truth is, and others who are not of the truth and run from it as hard and as fast as they can. Though many have put it in different terms, good vs. bad, right and wrong, decent and indecent, with an incredible array of greyness in-between, truth is a more absolute thing. There are many people who hate the truth so much that they will even argue with you about how many moons there are around the earth or how many suns there are in the solar system. I have even heard a guy argue that in truth the entire population of the world could be placed comfortably in the state of Texas (where there is already a problem with water). The absolute nature of truth is so distasteful to some, who embrace the subjective nature of perception with the totality of their minds that objectivity actually ceases to exist as a possibility; and with that all truth is banned from the human field of experience. The first problem with truth is that there is always going to be someone to argue against the truth for some kind of selfish subjective reason. And the real truth about truth is, even those who love the truth have a hard time applying the truth or accepting every truth about their own lives. Truth, ultimate truth, whatever it may be, is tough meat. It is unending and ever becoming, it’s a living process of discovery that never stops. The
First Principle Observation of World Psychology When it comes to many of the problems already mentioned we have lost any real sense of urgency, and as such we constantly slip back into business as usual. When it comes to facing the world’s population problem, with predicted water shortages, and its potential impact on food production, pollution, and climate change, whatever, only a few feel a tremendous sense of urgency. The bizarre air of unreality in our public life right now doesn't fill one with hope for any great change. The trends are continuing on their present course while political leaders seem only capable of concentrating on the most superficial levels of daily events. With everything that is going on in the world you would think there is enough to awaken humanity but is anyone even thinking of getting into the roots of the worlds conflicts; is anyone even trying to understand what is motivating terrorists around the globe to do what they are doing? Is it even possible to rethink and repent our ways? Is it possible to rethink our predominant paradigms and awaken to something new, a new way of being and living in the world? Are we already at the end of our evolutionary development as a species? Or is there some potential of being, some new way that will emerge as a light that will pierce the gathering clouds of darkness? The word we is not used lightly above when we said, we will not see the truth until we are forced to see it. It is not enough in the field of world consciousness for any individual to see what the truth might be. It is something that needs to dawn across racial and religious lines, across nations and continents, and even in families for a vast enough “we” to be formed around any grain of truth. In the “I” generation the forces in opposition to the creation of any kind of greater “we” are quite formidable. World Psychology confronts the limitations of individual psychology and spirituality, which too easily reinforce the nature of ego separation from the whole. Paradigms of individual spiritual enlightenment have not done much to save the world from itself and most family therapists know when treating children that their progress depends very much on what is happening or not happening with other members of the family. The truth of World Psychology is going to be discovered in the interpersonal sphere of the “we” though the “I” nature of every human being has to be respected and cultivated with care. Besides, all good healthy revolutions are fought with a mass of individuals turned about face into a greater ‘we.’ With the creation of “we” some kind of objective consensus or reality needs to be born. Objective truths do exist independent of what we think, they exist independent of our subjective natures and our opinions and beliefs about things. We can believe whatever we want and as passionately as we please but believing something is so does not necessarily make it so, though it is true that lies become truth to people who believe in the absolute truth of their beliefs. The intuitive level of perception, that level championed by Albert Einstein, who said, “I think with intuition,” is a level of perception that can only deal with truth. Intuition is a yes no type of perceptual ability and functions only with our openness to sensing or feeling the truth of any given situation. When diviners search for underground water, they walk around with their divining rod asking the question, “is there water here, is there water here.” If they are professional they will get a yes response when there really is water lying underneath their feet. Such professionals at finding water are trusted enough with the information gained that practical people will then go ahead and invest money drilling wells. The water is either there or it is not and of course the test comes when the hole is drilled. If you are a person of truth and you hear the truth it kind of excites you. Truth has the tendency to move us one way or another, in a good or bad way. If you are responsive and sensitive to truth in a good way you end up wanting to do something about it. You are receptive to it, which means you are open to making some kind of change in attitude and behaviour. This could be on the simplest level of not caring enough to help around the house and unfairly burdening a loved one with added responsibilities that are building resentment, or it can be on a more global or environmental level. We are just beginning to become conscious that there is a growing problem with fresh water but when will the truth of that dawn sufficiently enough for people to begin to shut the water tap when they brush their teeth? We can deny the truth of the world’s problem with water only up to a certain point, which is what the vast majority of people will do. In reality it is not until households are put on strict water allocations will we see a sea of basic change in people’s behaviours with water use. What kind of effect does truth have on people who are not of the truth? It disturbs them plenty because they are self-righteously set in their ways, stubborn, inflexible, selfish, and unwilling to do anything to change for they do not want to see any reason for change. Such people immediately want to get rid of any person who proclaims the truth because any such truth becomes like a thorn in their side, a thorn to be pulled and discarded with distaste. The truth, if we are not living it, is almost unbearable to hear. We reject it, and we reject the person who speaks it by trying to get rid of that person. People who are not of the truth, who have no love for it, are so disturbed by it that they react and lash out. For this reason it is a big risk to stand up for truth, with our lovers, family and friends, and with life and society as a whole for what comes back is not always pretty. Mixing up our beliefs with truth is a big mistake though it is often difficult to know what the truth is. For instance it is difficult to know the absolute truth of events that happened two thousand years ago. It is difficult to know what really happened in the life of Jesus and his family. The best we can do is to open our minds to all the possible facts and information and get a feel from that. Blind belief sabotages such a process; creates fear and inhibits the search for knowledge and truth. Home ]
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