To all you fact-checkers, voices of authority, armchair experts, conspiracy theorists, and conspiracy deniers. To everyone who- in these polarizing times- somehow manages to still give a ****. Much love to you all. But listen:
If you want The Truth, you’d better just See It Your Way.
…because I promise you, I won’t. Nor will anyone else. Not even your own mother.
I CAN’T see it your way. (You CAN’T see it my way either, Thank God) We just don’t have the same perspective.
In science, we’re often taught, “The Truth is Objective”. Psshhh. We had better test that hypothesis. Next time you’re walking with someone, turn to face each other. Maybe enjoy a moment of silent connection as you look into each other’s eyes. Then, ask the following question:
“What’s to our left?”
Yeah, yeah. I’m not playing fair with this little example. I hear you. “It wasn’t a legitimate experiment- just a shady little word play; a semantic trick”. Okay, sure. But: What ELSE is built upon semantics? Language? Yet we use language to convey some very complex ideas. FAR more complex than “what’s to our left?”. So minimally, this test demonstrates the kind of trap we’re walking into every time we attempt to impose our own perspective upon someone else, particularly when using limited tools for communication.
It gets deeper. Our world is usually complex enough to mask the reasons why we do or don’t see eye to eye. We rarely manage to get to the heart of things.
So. Whether we agree or disagree on any given topic is largely coincidence. On any given topic, our individual perspectives just happen to either line up- or not. This alignment (or lack thereof) fools us into believing we either agree or disagree. But even if we agree, it probably is NOT for identical sets of reasons. So the exact Truth remains different for each of us.
Does this mean we should give up trying to share THE TRUTH with others?
I don’t know.
I will go forward sharing my own unique perspective and hence my own unique Truth. I may disagree with you until I’m blue in the face, from a place of not only RESPECT, but also ADMIRATION.
Even if I’m just admiring your apparent stupidity. haha. I kid!
Notice the word “apparent” in there. That’s NOT just semantics.
“Stupidity” is, like everything else, SUBJECTIVE. What is Stupid to me, may very well be Truth to you. And the only real OBJECTIVE difference is perspective.
One more example:
In a stadium full of people, no two share the same exact perspective. The only way we can share our view with one another, then, is through honesty, disagreement, and TRUST. This is what’s missing from the dialogue today.
(Sure, there may be a single objective truth to the stadium as a whole, or to this reality we’re living, but that sounds like God-View to me, and respectfully, we’re just not there yet. Our “best” and “brightest”- says who?– don’t hold a candle to that fire.)
So. As we all continue to bicker about THE TRUTH, myself included, it’s nice to know we can relax, and bicker with grace, patience, and bemusement.
This is what LOVE looks like: Connection. Understanding. Peace.
To all of you, then, the best thing I can say right now might be this:
As you stand firmly in your own truth, expecting me to somehow “get it”
…Thanks for your patience!
– Brandon Novogradac
Career Scientist, Holistic Cancer Coach, Reiki Master