Sources of Truth

Posted by fschmidt on
URL: http://mikraite.155.s1.nabble.com/Sources-of-Truth-tp958.html

The best source of truth is the real world.  The more real world evidence that one can find in support of a statement, the more confidence one should have in the truth of that statement.  A statement contradicted by real world evidence is certainly false.

The second best source of truth is your sacred text.  Interpretation of sacred text should be guided by real world evidence.  Statements in your sacred text should be assumed to be true unless shown to be false by real world evidence.

The third best source of truth is your tradition.  One should have more confidence in older traditions than in newer traditions.  Statements in your tradition should be assumed to be true unless shown to be false by real world evidence or shown to conflict with your sacred text.

The worst source of truth is the human mind.  This is the case regardless of whose mind it is or of the means of finding the truth in the mind, whether intuition or deductive logic or claimed divine inspiration.  All statements coming from the mind should be assumed to be false unless shown to be true by real world evidence.