20 - Relative Truth and Relative Context
Relative context refers to everything that gives meaning to what is being considered.
* When reading this book for the first time, it is best to read from the beginning without skipping forward. Otherwise, the intended meaning of some words might not be obvious.
Relative Truth and Relative Context
RELATIVE TRUTH: “Relative Truth” refers to partial, casual, or conditional agreement. It refers to truth that is relatively true, relativistic, conditional, or qualified in some essential way. Relative truth is like saying, “mostly true,” “true in the sense of,” or “only true if or when.” It may be something that is true in one context but false in another related context, true or false only to some degree, or true depending upon something else; or it may be meaningful only in particular relevant circumstances such as being true in theory but not true in practice.
RELATIVE CONTEXT: “Relative Context” refers to many interrelated contexts that appear together as a single context for something, where each component context (or sub-context) affects the meaning and truth of that something. For example, in this book the suggested meanings of some words change from chapter to chapter—from context to context.
Relative context is often inconsistent, meaning that the sub-contexts may contradict each other in significant ways. For example, it is rare—even suspicious—for many eye-witnesses to each describe the same event without contradicting one another. Or it is like a group of scientists who each meticulously replicates a well-known test or experiment, with each getting somewhat different results. How do we know what to believe in these situations? The different results are relatively true in relation to the different contexts and different circumstances.
In scientific experiments these discrepancies are often dismissed under the fictitious reasoning of ceteris parabus, which translates as “all other things being equal.” Unfortunately, all other things are never equal, because each individual context or thing is unique across the universe. Without that clause science would be vastly more complex and more difficult than it already is; but with that clause science is a lot less truthful than it pretends to be and a lot less accurate.
The meaning of a context comes from how it defines truth, how it is related to other contexts, and how other contexts define truth in relation to that context. Contexts can exist for anything, and any particular thing is a context for many other things.
Relative context refers to everything that gives meaning to what is being considered; it is everything that supports in any way the existence and appearance of that thing.
And what is relative truth? By example, the idea that you live an individual life seems true to the extent that it agrees or disagrees with other ideas and experiences. The general idea of individuality appears true given the degree of general agreement with other, similar appearances. At the same time, the idea is very complex; it arises from a great many interrelated contexts, experiences, and other ideas that do not always agree with each other. In other words, the idea of individuality appears to be only relatively true.
Individuality is only an idea that somewhat agrees with other ideas, preferences, judgements, and habits. But it is not universal truth, which is clearly true and clearly applies to everything. Consider the way your life depends upon and is entangled with so many other things in your world:
How certain are you of your individuality?
Is individuality a matter of degree or gradation, or is it some fixed yes-or-no quality?
How confident are you that you know what ‘individual’ really means?
Is it only somewhat true that you are an individual? Are you only more or less individual?
What is individual about you?
What is not individual about you?
Universal truth is reality. Relative truth is unreality. Universal truth allows relative truth, which appears within the universal context as only partial and limited agreement among things. These partial and limited truths are the worlds, moments, ideas, preferences, and other things that we experience. Relative truth is how things exist within being: relatively so, as this or that, depending upon context.
Universal context is the context of everything, but relative context is limited in scope and intentionally selective. It appears within the universe as the universe dividing itself into countless worlds, world-views, lives, moments, and other experiences. Relative context (relativity) is the structure of unreality. Limited relative context is the same as not really knowing.
All ideas about truth, no matter how precise and logical they may seem, arise in relation to an infinite complexity of meaning and interpretation.
Truth appears to be a simple idea, but relative truth is not at all simple because of the complexity and misunderstanding within which it appears.
Reality is absolute and genuine.
Unreality is relativity and illusion.
The Mystery of the Ordinary
An old man ponders his search for truth.
When I was very young, I wanted to learn about everything; I wanted to participate and to contribute what I could. Everything was interesting, so exciting. I was promised I could be whatever I wanted to be and do whatever I wanted to do, within reason of course.
I was misled.
I learned soon enough that I could contribute something but just not what others demanded from me.
I was told the world is wonderful, and it is; but it is also deep in suffering and misery.
I listened to my first teachers who told me I was not working hard enough or maybe I was just no good.
I was told I was wrong when I spoke the truth, and I was praised when I repeated what I did not believe.
I wondered, where is real truth? Where is honesty?
Is it in science, history, folklore, philosophy? Is it in art?
Is it in education, culture, society, ethics? Does any-one know?
Is it in politics, law, government, religion, accounting?
Is it in violence, war, hatred, cruelty, compassion?
Is it in medicine, libraries, services, good intentions?
Is it in the good ideas that we keep repeating over and over?
I wondered, what can I believe? Who can I trust?
Atoms, relativity, ether, waves, plasma, energy, emptiness, fluctuations?
Doctors, diseases, cures, viruses, toxins, new foods, statistics?
Evolution, creation, randomness, design, experiment, intervention?
Politicians, governments, authorities, owners, family, community, animals?
Space aliens, ancient civilizations, happenstance, official secrecy?
I realize now that mostly I was looking in the wrong direction. None of it was really true in the way I thought true ought to be, you know, really true all of the time.
Today the world is even more wonderful than it was when I was young. It’s more complex, with much more variety in many more ways. I think the whole of it is just far more believable and interesting than the parts.
It inspires me, teaching me to expand until I learn what awaits at the limits. That is where I noticed real truth and what truth really meant: at the outer limits of the merely believable.
——
Beliefs can be either-or, or they can be a matter of degree. Most beliefs are in the form of statements about something, while intuition and insight are often beyond words.
List the things you completely believe or believe in.
List the things you strongly believe.
List the things you believe but cannot explain.
List the things you believe but cannot describe.
List the things you believe but cannot even name.
What does belief have to do with truth and context?
What does belief have to do with relativity?