Fact Or Truth?
Understanding How These Are Not The Same And How Information Can Be Easily Misleading
Fact Or Truth?
Understanding How These Are Not The Same And How Information Can Be Easily Misleading
Written by a human, for humans, always.
Let me ask you a question...
Do you want facts or truth?
There are many people who believe that these are the same thing...
And they can be...
But the reality is that they are not always the same.
Worse...
That confusing these can be utilized as a way to mislead us.
Let me prove it to you...
Starting with the idea that these are not the same.
Do you want a truth that is not a fact?
I love my family to the moon and back.
Now, is this true?
Absolutely.
Is it a fact?
No, because you cannot quantify love through a physical distance.
But when someone says that they love someone to the moon and back...
Or any distance...
We all understand that it is a figure of speech to explain something that is true...
Even if it is not a fact.
Sometimes...
There are truths that are so complex in life...
That we really do not have access to all of the “facts” that would be necessary to explain and understand those truths...
But that does not disqualify it from being true...
It just means that we lack the knowledge, understanding, or perhaps even the capacity to put it into facts.
Lacking facts does not necessarily diminish something from being true.
On the other end of the spectrum...
Let me give you a fact that is not true.
Say there is a study where two solutions were tested, and the new option was twice as effective...
The general belief is that this fact means that the new option is a significantly better solution.
But what if I told you...
That one option had a 0.5% effectiveness rate, while the new option had a 1% effectiveness rate.
Is it a fact that 1% is twice as effective as 0.5%?
Yes, that is a fact.
But it is not true that the new option is significantly better in terms of real results...
Even if the study showed “statistical significance,” which is different than real result significance.
This is a fact...
That has been portrayed in a specific way...
To tell a story that is not true.
I see this happen “all” the time in science, business, and politics...
“Facts” that are presented in such a way as to tell a story...
But when you look more closely...
You discover that the story is completely false.
Now this is where the misguidance really begins to take shape in the world.
Many people and organizations will try to convince you that fact and truth are inseparable...
Which then leads to this happening...
They will take a truth that does not, at least yet, have facts to claim that it “cannot” be true...
Or they will design systems, procedures, experiments, etc. in such a way to create facts that claim to “disprove” these truths...
Then...
They will design systems, procedures, experiments, etc. in such a way to “convince” you of something else...
Something that is not true...
But which will greatly benefit them in the process...
Usually at your expense.
“Facts” are in this way used as a weapon to mask and cloud the truth.
This is why context is really important.
Let me give you another example of this, so you can appreciate what I am getting at, even if you do not “believe” in it...
The Bible.
So many people (Non-Christians and Christians alike) will throw around Biblical passages and verses as “facts” of what the Bible claims...
But how much of the Bible is poetry?
About 1/3rd of the entire Bible is poetry...
Sometimes mixed in with other types of writing, such as designed narrative or discourse, without ever making it visible (especially in translations).
Let me ask you a question...
Are you ever supposed to take poetry completely literally as facts?
No.
In nearly every poetic style, words are used in a special way to get at a truth without using facts.
So...
Do you think someone understands what the Bible is trying to say...
If they treat poetry as if it were facts?
Of course not.
And you can appreciate that without needing to believe in what the Bible says.
You can attest that if someone is reading poetry and judging it as if it were fact...
Then they clearly are not understanding the purpose of what is being written, and they are treating it incorrectly...
Especially when you consider that some Biblical poetry relies on purposeful wordplay in a language that most people do not understand, that does not translate.
If you do not have the context of what is being presented...
Then you are not going to interpret what is being said correctly.
And if someone presents information that is lacking context...
It is easier for them to manipulate what is being understood by others.
This is true of any religious text...
Any scientific research...
Any statistics presented to justify laws...
Any news reporting...
Anything that works to utilize facts as a way to convince you of something.
This is also a large part of the reason that so many people are misled in today’s world...
They hear or see something that is a fact...
But which is frequently taken out of context completely to tell you something that is, in fact, a lie (yes, the pun was intended).
What is the takeaway here?
Be careful of the difference between fact and truth.
They are not the same thing.
People will use facts to tell lies and create deceptions.
People will create standards that a truth cannot meet to convince you it is false.
Understanding this reality is incredibly important...
And perhaps what you need to pay attention to most closely...
Is whether what you are looking at is really the truth...
Or whether you have been convinced of false beliefs and understandings by facts that are designed to deceive you.
To determine this...
You need to get the context of what is being presented...
To get a clearer picture of what the truth may actually be.
To Your Sageship,
Cody
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