I was reading a post by @troglodactyl which I resteemed and I started to reply to him at length. I realized the likely response was better as an actual post. That is how I came to be here today.

The other day I was debating with my boss about Truth and Fact. Up until that point I considered them the same thing. Yet, in discussing with him it turns out they actually are two different things. The Truth is always based around to the perceptions of the observer, and their current knowledge. They will describe and perceive this truth through a very personal and limited perception based upon what they themselves know. There may also be some assumptions based upon what they know. Yet to them it is still the Truth. They are not lying.

Then there are facts. Facts are indisputable pieces of information. "It is a fact that this man was hit by something that put a hole in his body". The Truth would be someone saying "He was shot by a gun, we heard a pop, and then he fell." That is the truth to the best of their knowledge. The fact is that the guy is lying on the ground with a hole in his body. If he survives and during surgery they may remove a slug that corroborates the truth the person who stated the story made. They could also find a sliver of wood propelled by a transformer that happened to explode near them. They could find nothing at all, as the pop and the wound may be unrelated and coincidental.

This is the difference between Truth and Fact. Ideally we want our Truths to line up with the facts we have, but fact and truth are actually two very different things.

It can be distilled down to Facts being Static (it is the unchanging information) and Truth as being Dynamic (changeable).

The truth can and should change with the learning of new information. Exposure of new facts should always alter some Truth in some way.

I only recently realized the difference between these things myself. Prior to that I was treating Truth and Facts as the same thing. They are not.

It could be as simple as asking someone to "Tell the truth" and they tell you a story. That story is what they "believe" happened based upon their knowledge and what their own senses witnessed. This is different than "Tell me the facts". The facts would be the details about what events, people, colors, etc that were actually seen. It would not be assumptions of the interactions with those things and the motives.

Discussing motives is an example of someone telling you the TRUTH as far as they know it. "He did it because he was angry with his neighbor's dog". This may not be a fact. It is an assumption.

He's a master Liar

A lot of people today are getting sucked into propaganda narrative from any side of the divides about "LYING" and who is lying. Lying requires the person know they are not telling the truth. There is a big difference between LYING and BEING WRONG.

I'm not a fan of Donald Trump though the media attack and constant hypocritical bashing makes me like him more than I did. He has been called a pathological liar by many prominent people.

I actually haven't seen him lie. I've seen him be wrong a lot of times, but there was every indication he believed what he said was the truth. This is not lying. This is being wrong.

Lying is something far worse. It is knowingly stating something that even you yourself do not believe in.

So LYING like so many words is being hijacked for propaganda purposes.

Suddenly depending upon who you are being wrong, is now the same as lying. I believe everyone should be concerned about this trend, and they should challenge it whenever they encounter it. This is something that should be challenged whether it is being used against someone you like or don't like. You liking them or not does not make this suddenly into an OKAY thing.

It is perverting the truth for propaganda and political reasons. It is a stain, and a corruption. It is the black tar slime monster that we seem to be allowing to coat our minds and in some cases are encouraging it to do so.

Belief Systems

Belief systems are normal. I don't really like the idea of SYSTEMS. I don't really have much of a system anymore. I process what information I have at the time to shape my view of "The truth" and I welcome and seek out opportunities for that information to change and steer "The Truth" towards something more accurate. I do not set my belief or "truth" in stone.

It helps that I now know the difference between FACTS and TRUTH, for until I learned that distinction I viewed the ultimate truth as immutable. There is some ultimate truth out there. In reality, there are ultimate FACTS out there. The truth will forever change within our minds.

Being Wrong

It is okay to be wrong. It is normal. All of us are wrong. In reality, we are likely wrong far more often than we like to admit. We have this stigma that being wrong is to be avoided at all cost. Being wrong is valuable. We hopefully learn a lot from being wrong. In fact, I'd argue that it is being wrong that motivates us to question. If we are RIGHT and already know the answer then there is not doubt or reason to question. A person who believes they are never or rarely wrong is likely a fool. They do not realize that they have boxed their mind in. They believe themselves to be either omnipotent or flawless. This is mostly about denial and fear of being wrong due to the stigma. There should not be a stigma with being wrong. There should be one with lying, but as I stated being wrong and lying are two very different things.

So next time you think "you are lying", consider this. Does the person believe what they are saying? If the answer is yes, they they are not lying. They may be wrong though. It is also possible that you are wrong. Accept being wrong as a gift. It is an opportunity.

Don't be afraid to challenge people talking about the TRUTH as though it is FACT. Help more people see the distinction. Don't be afraid to challenge people who call someone a liar, when in that case they may simply be wrong but believe what they are saying.

Steem On!