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Originally posted by notsympl
reply to post by dragonsmusic
truth cannot be pursued, knowledge can.
truth has to be explored, without understanding the truth you can only assume.
[edit on 12-12-2009 by notsympl]
Originally posted by l_e_cox
reply to post by dragonsmusic
I suppose I can only speak for myself, but I believe that the basic value, or action, that we are trying to forward is the idea of living with the truth. In that sense, it is not so much some ultimate truth we are after, or the desire to learn about things that are essentially mysterious, but simply putting a value on honesty and openness in communication. What most of us have problems with our governments about is the perception, often well-documented, that they often lie to us.
The site sort of constantly boils with this theme. Who is lying? Who is telling the truth? On subjects where the truth is not plain to see, this is a real problem for us. The general public will often accept what they are told by "authorities." So if "authorities" take on the habit of lying to the public as the standard operation, how can a society that is set up to run right only if its citizens are well-informed survive?
Sometimes all we can do at this site is discuss this problem. But I think it all helps and what it helps is our chances of survival.
I personally believe that there is a lot more to this dynamic than certain officials lying to us to protect their reputations or self-interest or to cover up something. Because while all our attention is on public officials who are expected to say something by the press and general social pressures and the fact that they want to win the next election, there are plenty of others who also lie to us who are doing it without being prodded by the press, and are doing it for, I believe, vastly more evil purposes than most of our elected officials and government administrators are even capable of.
It's not just the shiny beacon of Total Knowledge that we are after. We just know that we will survive better if we are more honest with each other.