Thursday, March 31, 2011

We both have truths, are mine the same as yours?

- Pilate's song from Jesus Christ Superstar

It is only lately it is beginning to dawn on me that there really is no one single reality, but rather that everyone has their own. Or rather, that this is normal, and not something that should be changed at all costs.

But yes, sometimes it is better to accept that you have your own view of the world, while someone else has a completely different take, and that both of you are correct in some sense.

For some conflicts, the resolution requires the unification of world views of the two people. But this is not always so.

O ye that reject Faith!
I worship not that which ye worship,
Nor will ye worship that which I worship.
And I will not worship that which ye have been wont to worship,
Nor will ye worship that which I worship.
To you be your Way, and to me mine.


- Qu'ran, surah 109 "The Atheists"

And even for the cases where the unification is desirable, "talking it out" might not be possible, or reasonable. Sometimes actions speak louder than words. Especially repeated actions.

Which of course makes allegations of the form "you always do X" that much harder to disprove too. Ah well, life's a bitch and then you die.

1 comment:

  1. People only change if they want to.

    Also: judaism has this interesting quirk called aspective worldview. As it is impossible to follow all the rules God has marked down, they need to put in the best effort they can and that's where the Rabbis come in - they help people choose the right path, so that they break the least amount of rules. But as all of those rules are of divine origin, all of them are true at all times, even if they create a conflict between themselves. And thus judaists have developed this remarkable ability to see that there is no universal truth and that complete opposites can both be true at the same time :) Something the rest of the world could benefit from as well, methinks.

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