Truth is More Complicated Than You Think

Kindness

We live in a world of community, an existence defined by relationships. If you are right without kindness and care, you’re missing out on the truth. Kindness is an important and transcendent element to pursuing truth.

Any married person can tell you this lesson. If I am right about what the most popular song was in 1998 and my wife is wrong about the fact, I can do my marriage a lot of harm by the way I communicate the facts. I can be right about a lot of things, even all things, and still ruin my relationship. Having the information doesn’t excuse me from being a jerk. Facts and interpretations also need the weight of character to bring a fuller version of truth into the light.

Fallibility  

Lastly, truth requires community. Because every single one of us is wrong about something. All of us are fallible and imperfect.

Even if everything we thought and believed was correct, it still would not be all there is that is correct in the world. We need the truth in others to expand our capacity for truth. We need what others know, who they are, what they think and feel, in order to get a fuller picture. We need others to show us new ways to explore and care for people and think about issues.

Humility is a huge part of truth. Because none of us hold the entirety of truth within us. It is too big and complicated for that. This is why we try to dumb down the truth to something we can manage, something we can control.

The truth is complicated. Both individually and collectively, we need to give it the consideration it deserves.