“Everyone asks for the truth, but what you should ask for are secrets.” – Cypher
And so my previous post has conveniently provided a segue into my next topic.
Some people may believe that this quote is meant to deter people from seeking the truth. Others see it differently, believing it places emphasis on the importance of secrets over the truth.
I ascribe to neither of these interpretations. Rather, I see it as a cautionary note. A reminder to take pause before we charge headlong into truths we profess to desire.
Because the truth is seldom kind and is often ugly. Perhaps this is in part, why many of us ofttimes choose to believe in lies, deception offers us something beautiful.
At times, the truth is akin to a weapon. One which we wield against falsehoods that others seek to weave about us. And yet, we never stop to consider an irrefutable fact: that weapons cut both ways.
Consider the man who has learnt about impending disasters with no means to prepare or to prevent them. Learning these truths have robbed him of peace.
Would it do good for people of faith, who conform to a moral and ethical framework due to the promise of some ambiguous heavenly reward in the afterlife, to know definitively that there are no gods to judge them, and no incentive to do so? How many will remain the paragons of virtue then?
People often say they want the truth, but many simply want the lie which they can understand. One which comforts them, makes their world simpler and easier to live in. There is no reason to feel ashamed, at times a good lie is better than a bad truth, and its ability to heal can be miraculous.
I do not say this to deter people from seeking the truth. While ignorance can be our bulwark against truths which we are not ready to face and can, to invoke the oft-quoted adage, be a bliss, it is also an invitation to be deceived. In such circumstances, we often rely upon the blade of truth to combat such falsehoods.
Yet, those who seek the truth amongst us are often under a misconception; that all truths have basis in fact. They are not. The term “Truth”, which we so frivolously bandy about often takes two distinct forms, that being actual truth or agreed-upon truth.
Actual truth is meant to be fact. I say meant to be, because despite our best intentions, it occasionally falls short of its intended purpose. This is due to our preferred tool of acquiring such information, a tool which is regrettably tainted by the innate biases we harbour. I speak of course, about human perception.
Thankfully we remain aware of such biases, and often take steps to mitigate its effects. Law enforcement collating multiple eyewitness accounts of various crime scenes is an excellent example of this.
Agreed-upon truths on the other hand, can be an altogether different beast. They are accounts which we have unanimously agreed to endorse. Sometimes, they deviate subtly from actual fact, and sometimes, they are altered so far beyond recognition they may as well be known as lies.
What then, could cause us to term such outright lies as a truth?
History provides the most compelling reason for us to do so. After all, it contains the greatest examples of agreed-upon truths we have ever created. And yet, as the witnesses to the actual facts embrace their final journey, we are left with an inability to discern fact from fiction within the accounts they have left behind. Thus rendering them to all intents and purposes, as the truth.
We are fully aware of our predecessor’s penchant for distorting the facts, so much so that we’ve coin an adage for it, as though it were a mark of pride. But ultimately, we are forced to accept it, because the alternative would be to remain plagued with indecision and inaction as we attempt to discern fact from fiction.
So I have come to realisation that not all truths are created equal. That while logic dictates actual truths should take precedence, practicality often demands otherwise. Because for truth to be worth anything, it must be preserved and remembered, else it holds no value.
Those who would choose to live with the truth instead of dying in ignorance would do well to heed this.