Why+Truth+Matters

By what means do people create antinomies to the truth according to the authors of this reading? (Read chapter 1)

 Antinomy: 1. A contradiction or opposition, especially between two laws or rules  2. A contradiction between principles or conclusions that seem equally reasonable and necessary, a paradox.

According to this article, they discuss the many different ways that we yearn for truth but in our own ways we deny, and prove them wrong. The antinomies or contradictions that are equally represented with both positive and negative attributes being represented, have to be Authority and Taboo. In the article Authority is said to be good in the sense that the roles of Authority guide us, help us find our way, or discover the truth. Yet, many a times they also just tell us what to think and believe no matter how true or false it may be. Then there is taboo, that is the contradiction of Authority, and the other leading topic, Taboo in negative terms is described as a way of using social and religious customs to restrict people from expressing themselves, yet in a positive way, they say it may benefit the society. The authorities believe they can deal with unwanted truth, by pretending it isn't there or covering it up, however the taboo approach leads to outraged people who feel they have rights, they stand up for what they believe in, and do not let society or authority in the society influence their decisions. That is how they deal wiht unwanted truth in their own ways.



What points are these authors trying to make? Do you agree?

The authors of this chapter focus on the points of why we deny truths, and how we think of ways to prove them wrong or not admit to them, yet they also say, in the same regard we all believe that truth is so important, even though it hardly benefits us. The authors believe that as much as we want to trust that truth will save us from hardships, or comfort us when in doubt, all truth does, is hurt us. It seems that our species tends to shy away from the truth, avoid it in a way, and we find lying, cheating, and stealing more interesting. Mainly for the reason that truths are just cold hard facts that only cause us to find clarification and face reality which most of us hate doing. Also truth takes away from the interesting, cheerful, and exciting games we play with people, because deep down we are “greedy, murderous savages” that claim enjoyment from denying other people the truth, apparently that causes controversy, I wonder why? The authors also point out tactics that people use to prove others’ truths, or opinions of truths wrong, and how we deal with unwanted truth. These tactics may include internal denial, or how convincing oneself that it something is incorrect will soon cause belief that it is incorrect; how roles of authority tell us what to think and believe; by rendering something unclear or unintellgiable (obfuscation); by evading something, using excuses; giving alternative evidence; using taboo, a way of using social and religious customs to restrict people from expressive…no matter the truth; posing unanswerable questions that divert from the topic, distortion; and shooting the messenger, although the time period is a bit off… I do agree with the authors of this chapter, in some regard, I mean I believe that what they wrote is true, because a lot of the things they mentioned to do with the behavior of humans, and how we deal with truth, I can admit to. But I can disagree in the sense that I do not believe all of us want to know the truth, not all of us care that much that we would actually deny other people the truth, or put their opinions down because we refuse to believe it. Not everyone would argue that the truth matters this much, unless of course it was a truth that related to them.