TED Conversations

Tiago Reiser

This conversation is closed. Start a new conversation
or join one »

Do you think that the true is absolute or relative?

How do you define the true? there is such thing as relative true?

Topics: philosophy
+1
Share:

Showing single comment thread. View the full conversation.

  • Chandramouli Pandya

    • 0
    Jun 21 2011: Truth is a concept and hence will always be relative. We need to differentiate between facts and truths. Facts are bits of information with no right or wrong attached. Truths on the other hand automatically suggests that there is a false or a lie. This makes the "truth" relative to the person / people who perceive it. What we "perceive" as red may not be red to someone else (Bird's eyes perceive colors differently from ours). Does that mean that a red ball is no longer red? Ofcourse not, it just means that for a human the ball is red, but not for a bird and both facts are true.

    • Steve Bruno

      • 0
      Jun 22 2011: "truth is a concept and hence will always be relative". I don't mean to be facetious, but that is an absolute statement.

      Again, I think we are getting stuck on semantics.

      Lets look at your illustration:

      You are correct my interpretation of red may not be the same as your interpretation of red, however, there is an objective wavelength that we have been able to measure and attribute to red. There is no interpretation or subjectivity involved. The same goes for someone who is colour-blind. They will never see certain colours, to a relativist they don't exist to him. I say they do exist, he would just have no way of knowing it. There are things in life that I cannot conclusively prove, but I start with the assumption that there is an objective, and unbiased truth, and I seek that truth in everything that I do (or at least I hope that I do this). Again, science rests on the fact that there are absolute laws that govern our universe. It does go down to a framework of beliefs.

      • Chandramouli Pandya

        • 0
        Jun 22 2011: I guess it boils down to "our" definition of truth. :)

        To me, the objective wavelength is a fact, data, information. It cannot be true or false. It exists.

        For discussion sake, I could state that the wavelength measured is also subjective and hence not absolute. It is subjective to the our space-time instance. At a different instance, the same colour may be produced by a different wavelength OR light may not have a wave-form at all.

        The "facts" that we take as absolute truths as also measured / experienced relative to our physics.

        If the question is "Is there an absolute scale of reference?", there probably is.

Showing single comment thread. View the full conversation.