Critical Reflections on Why Truth Matters - Part 3 of 3

If you want to know what "this" is all about, or why it is, start with Critical Reflections on True to Life: Why Truth Matters - Part I: Cynical Myths and Critical Reflections on True to Life: Why Truth Matters - Part II: False Theories. The intro to those provide context to this final reflection for the three part series. (spoiler: it was for a University course)

For the regular readers of this, and previous reflections, thank you for reading. Hopefully you have been inspired to think further about truth, knowledge, free will, and reality.

As always, feel free to comment, argue, etc.

Critical Reflections on True to Life: Why Truth Matters by Michael P. Lynch

Part 3: Why Truth Matters

“If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.” 

― Mark Twain 

As previously stated in class, truth matters because we care about people being honest with us, and all healthy relationships require trust, which requires honesty. As Lynch points out throughout the third section, truth among people in society is important to get things done and to maintain levels of trust (152). Truth is an important ingredient in achieving common goals and sharing information, and lack of truth – lies – are a violation of communication, which is damaging to society. Truth is a central aspect of many parts of life and things would be very bad if everyone lied all the time. Without truth, things would fall apart, both in society and in interpersonal relationships.

If this is not enough to convince the reader they should care about truth, Lynch presents agreeable alternative reasons, aside from simply caring about truth for its own sake. He highlights the intrinsic value of truth to self. Caring about truth in general, Lynch says, is a path towards authenticity, self-awareness, self-regard, and self-respect, and knowing the truth about what you care about is part of intellectual integrity. (35) People who care about the truth, and acknowledge what they care for it, therefore have a good sense of the degrees of self and have increased self-respect, according to Lynch. It would be nice to think most people care about self-respect, however, often times it seems the opposite.

Lynch says that caring about truth and honesty leads to authenticity and integrity, and that “our lives go better when they are lived authentically and with integrity”. (20) Additionally, caring about truth is essential in knowing ourselves and being self-aware. “What we can know – or not know - about ourselves runs the gamut”, says Lynch (121), but we can know and understand ourselves better through truth. Therefore, truth becomes a building block in self-understanding and identity construction.

Further, caring about truth leads to the knowledge of what matters to us and promotes self-reflection; a lack of which he attributes to internal traits such as laziness, lack of discipline, but also external factors such as, poverty, hunger, lack of education, cultural discouragement of reflection (Lynch, 122). Additionally, not caring about truth or what we think leads to self-deception and when “we don’t really care about what we think we care about and we live our lives with bad faith” (Lynch, 122).

People who approach truth with ambivalence experience instability. While Lynch claims that sometimes this is inevitable due to “overpowering and contradictory pressures of outer circumstances” (123), I would like to assume he means ambivalence about specific truths (i.e. religion), and not truth overall, because to not care about any and all truth just seems, to be frank, dumb.

Logically, caring about truth requires “being open-minded and tolerant of others’ opinions, being careful and sensitive to detail, being curious, and paying attention to evidence […] being willing to question assumptions, giving and asking reasons, being impartial, and being intellectually courageous” (Lynch, 129-130). The pursuit of truth also includes the willingness to admit when one is wrong, and is not a matter of consistency, but a matter of the ability to consider information and adjust beliefs accordingly. Not standing up for what you think is right is a lack of intellectual integrity, according to Lynch, but defending a view without bothering to examine it for truth is also a lack of intellectual integrity. In lack of intellectual integrity is the lack of authenticity, which indicates lack of self-control. These are all very agreeable assertions.

An important part of caring about the truth and seeking the truth, in Lynch’s eyes, is sincerity, which has “instrumental value” (153). Lynch says caring about truth, seeking truth, is risky; but caring about truth also leads to authenticity and degrees of happiness, which gives life meaning, because in not caring about truth, one lacks of self-respect, and lack of self-respect leads to unhappiness – again, very logical. As Ellen J. Langer, professor of psychology at Harvard University says, “Self-respect […] may hold the key to achieving the peace of mind we seek”, and by self-respect, she means acceptance. (Langer, 1999) As Lynch has said you cannot accept yourself if you do not know yourself, which happens in-part through caring about the truth. What Langer suggests also coincides with Lynches theory on happiness in caring about and valuing the truth, and living a “life lived well”. Happiness, while it can be allusive, becomes more attainable through truth.

You can hardly talk about truth without talking about lying. Lying involves belief, but in a different way, when “what you say is not what you believe” (Lynch, 147). Lying is just as complex as truth. According to Lynch there are many kinds of lies, from ambiguous to equivocal. According to Lynch there are justifiable lies, which are ones used to “save-face” or protect the feelings of others, or in some cases, such as in the government, used to temporarily protect national security. Some lies a “tall tails” or “yarns”, and some are outright “bullshit lies”. Lies, then, can be just as subjective as truth, but are generally intentional and meant to be misleading or deceiving and other nefarious motivations. Additionally, lies harm people, and lies breed more lies. Not very noble ends, really.

In the end chapter, Lynch dipped his toes into politics and truth, while interesting, and seemed like a personal rant about his issues with liberal democracies. What really stood out is that when discussing “the liberal” he used pronouns such as “herself”, “she” (165). I am also not so sure that I agree with Lynch when he states that “liberalism is presupposed a concept of objective truth” (167). If anything, conservatism seems more inclined to objective truth (based on religious “truth”), while liberalism is more subjective, and that is why conservatives assert that liberals “don’t believe in truth” (evidence of which can be found doing a very quick Google search). In any case, it seems that when Lynch took to the political soapbox and with him a broad brush of personal opinion, certainly detected throughout the claims in other parts of the book, also. This does not make what he says any less “true”, but for people who want to deny truthiness in his truth, it is an opening for contention.

Ultimately when it comes to choosing between the truth and a lie it is important to remember, like with anything, that you should treat others as you would have them treat you. Surely there are few people in the world who want to be lied to. At the end of the day not finding value in truth, at least for the same of it, and rejecting truth as something exists is dangerous, just as is thinking there is no such thing as free will and becoming a victim of self. Giving up on truth embraces doom, for who wants to live in a society where nobody believes in truth.

Lynch never had to convince me to care about truth, because being lied to hurts. However, he did present new ways of thinking about truth, especially in relation to truth being a potential catalyst in becoming a better happier person. Hopefully more people come to see that there is a clear value in truth, both personally and for society.


References

Langer, E. J. (1999, 11 1). Self-esteem vs Self-respect. Retrieved from Psychology Today: http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/199911/self-esteem-vs-self-respect

Lynch, Michael P. True to Life: Why Truth Matters. Cambridge: MIT, 2005. Print.

Carrying on a Legacy

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She may not have been a legend to the world, she was a legend to us. So was her husband.

Words that come to mind when we think of her are rebellious, young at heart, opinionated, and intelligent, stubborn.

Had she had her way, she would have went to University, would have taught English and writing to school children. She loved writing, she would write letters to everybody she knew. She loved getting letters, she always said she especially liked ours. We have a feeling we were one of her only grandchildren who regularly wrote letters to her, but because we had always been on the move and travelling after graduation, we usually had interesting things to write to her. Sometimes she would "mark" our letters, and show them to us when we would visit her.

Instead of following her dream, she changed her dream. She married and made a happy home for her husband, they had been high school sweethearts, had a marriage to pattern one's own from. She grew her own vegetables, tended flowers, and was active in the community, raising seven strapping children on shoe string budgets.

Today, almost three years to the day since Grandpa crawled down from his deer stand, was admitted to the hospital diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and within weeks passed away, she went to meet him in her heaven.

Her legacy was one of food, cooking, words, gardening. loving your neighbour. She wasn't perfect, of course, but she was a lovely woman.

We saw her about a month ago, our last memory of her will be sitting next to her in the nursing home, during an annual family gathering, holding her hand, listening to her talk about the people around her, and talking aimlessly about bits and pieces from the past. We are sure she was a bit confused with what she saw, our family has become very multi-cultural because of adoptions and foster care, and it had been awhile since she had even recognized some of her own grandchildren, us included.

Each time we told her we had to go, and kissed her cheek, she'd clasp our hands more firmly, indicating she didn't want us to leave. It made us giggle and smile, which in turn made her smile. We lay our head on her frail small shoulder one last time, and told her that we love her, and that we would see her soon. As we walked out we knew we probably wouldn't.

She went into intensive care last week, and family members went to see her but we were told too late to make the trip. We were told she asked for us.

Her passing is no surprise, of course. She has been in so much pain that they sedated her the last couple of days because even morphine wouldn't take her pain away. Her life will be remembered; her passing, the end of a generation that held traditions and values that are disappearing from this country; but the disappearances need not be a scary thing, like death, change is inevitable and part of life, and it doesn't mean that the new traditions and values will be bad, it just means they will be different.

Some, part of a Legacy, that will be carried on.

With the passing of our last grandparent, many of us shall continue to blend our own modern views and values, with their traditional practices of self sustainability and compassion for others.

Rest in peace, Grandma. You shall be missed by many. (P.S. and just in case you are right, give Grandpa a hug and kiss for us)

~ Frank et al

Some of the other stuff we've written over the year about Grandma:

• January 15, 2012 A Visit With Grandma http://just-call-me-frank.blogspot.com/2012/01/visit-with-grandma.html
• June 23, 2012 A Family Picnic Day http://just-call-me-frank.blogspot.com/2012/06/family-picnic-day.html
• October 6, 2012 Just A General How Do You Do http://just-call-me-frank.blogspot.com/2012/10/just-general-how-do-you-do.html

I’m A “Libtard”, Apparently - A Guest Blogger

Because we're feeling lazy as hell, and uninspired to talk about things going on in our life (Grandma has been in the Intensive Care Unit for a couple of days, and she actually asked for us...from the reports we hear she is getting better, we'll have to go visit her soon...but enough about that), we're featuring a guest blogger for today. He's not really a guest blogger so much as James, who many know as The Boyfriend. He wrote this awhile ago (about a month ago), but we really like what he had to say, even if we don't always agree on everything, nor him us, this was one of the things we are proud to stand next to him and agree with.

There has been a lot of name calling in this election among people on social media, some very...gentle and harmless...and in some cases cruel, ignorant and disturbing. We've witnessed it, other people have told us about it (like this woman, a follower on Twitter, who DM'd this link to us: http://alvariver.tumblr.com/post/34160524039/last-night). We think this crude name calling mostly has to do with being un-educated about what the people claim to be fighting about, and that's why they resort to such childish behaviours. It's easy to keep a level head, and keep from name calling (being an adult), for the most part, when armed with facts, and information based on actual reality, rather than speculation and talking points based on nothing but unresearched news organization propaganda  like...well...much of what Fox News and it's syndicates, distribute, for example.

Thank goodness the whole [election] thing will be over in three (four) days and we can all go back to hating each other for more than just which side of the political fence the people in the opposing party leans on.

So, to James, and his passionate response to a Facebook communication he intercepted between us and a woman we know (who happens to be a pretty firm conservative). It should be noted that James is British. He's been living in the United States with us now for about nine months over the last year.

[To the person this was directed to, there are no hard feelings, you know we're tolerant, and you also know we discussed this amicably in private, please do not feel like this is a refreshed personal jab at you.]

I’M A “LIBTARD”, APPARENTLY

This actually stemmed from the response to one of Frankie’s Facebook statuses and was directed at them but since it applies to me too, I thought I’d take a stab at a response. In the end, I felt it was something I’d like to share with others, as I often do with my opinions. So here then, unedited, is my Facebook response:

“Libtard”? If you mean belief in the freedom and liberty of people then yes, I’m a “libtard”. If you mean belief of freedom of speech and religion (including freedom not to be religious), free trade (of goods and ideas and in turn, opposed to any restrictions), elections and democracy then yes, I’m a “libtard”. If you mean the belief that all people should be free and to have equal rights (you’ll find a perfect example of such left wing “libtard nonsense” in your beloved “Declaration of Independence”, I suggest you read it) then yes, I’m a “libtard”. If you mean a belief that the “gubnant” should not restrict or take away the rights of its people then yes, I’m a “libtard”. If you mean a belief that personal freedoms shouldn’t restrict the people’s freedom (you (Americans) even went to war with each other over that one) then yes, I’m a “libtard”.
But I also have socialistic beliefs (beyond all of the above, what with being British and all). I believe that the government (as the people’s elected governors) should be responsible for providing social services e.g. health care and education and in any other respect, doing what it can to help those are less well off (not through any fault of their own, you know, like single parents who find themselves out of work and struggle to find new employment, as one example of many). If you think those are left wing liberal beliefs then yes, I’m a “libtard” (or are you, like many of your ignorant peers, now going to accuse me of being a communist too?). And I must be a “libtard” because I believe that the government, in its duties to its people and its country, needs funding in order to do these things (or in your case, so that it can send its people to fucking war with a country it has no right to or reason to be involved with) and as such can look to its people in the form of taxes. I further believe that the wealthier minority of a country, those that because of its government, its country and its people have allowed them to become so wealthy, should reward that by paying a higher percentage of taxes (though I’d happily settle for equal percentage at this point).
In summary then yes, I must, according to you, be a “libtard” and if this is what makes me a “libtard” then I’d wear that badge with fucking honour.
Your fucking ignorance is astounding, but far from surprising.
[Additional] There will always be those that through either ignorance or arrogance that will insist on a label and insist on bastardising and distort the meanings behind those labels. There are those that believe socialism means communism or that one be-gets the other. There will always be those that will cherry pick the founding ideals of socialism and liberalism in order to either shrug off the hypocrisy of their own beliefs and / or to attack other people. Today, certainly from I’ve seen so far in America, people’s ideas / beliefs of what it means to be a socialist or liberal are too distorted to allow me to place such a label on myself without the need to then describe at great length why or what those those labels mean to me.
I am a liberal if all that I’ve said above makes me one. I’m also a Socialist if all that I’ve said above makes me one. For what it’s worth, I do believe in everything I said above; I do believe that people should have equality and freedom and liberties but I also believe that we need a selected group of people, a government, to ensure that we continue to enjoy such equality, freedoms and liberties and to protect us from those that attempt to take them away from us. I believe that we, the people, have certain rights but I believe an individuals right should not be to the detriment of another person’s or of the peoples. In order to achieve this balance, we, as individuals have to accept that there are restrictions on our actions to protect the freedoms of others.
I know what I am, politically and socially speaking and I know what others label me as. For the most part, whilst they might mean to insult and belittle me, I accept some of those labels because I’m educated and open minded enough to know what those labels truly mean, at least what they used to mean when people first described those terms. To many Americans I am a socialist. I’ll accept that one. To many Americans I’m therefore a communist but that one I will argue I am not whilst I shake my head at their ignorance. And now it seems if [this] person is typical of many (right wing) American people, I’m also a “libtard”.
Call me what you like, my eyes and my mind are open and for as long as they remain so, I’ll continue to believe in everything I’ve said here.
Shame on you. Shame on you.

Originally posted on October 3, 2012 at http://iamfranksbitch.tumblr.com/

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