There is no such thing an an absolute truth.

What's up happy people, Deji Here.

Here is chapter 12 from my book " Perception is a Bitch."

Be wary of convictions. Absolute truths do not exist.

“I have yet to see a piece of writing, political or non-political, that does not have a slant. All writing slants the way a writer leans, and no man is born perpendicular."

As I give up old biases and ideologies, I find myself unconsciously developing new ones to question. This is because my mind is always avoiding insanity by jumping in and out of boxes. I say this, so you do not think this book is beyond question. It is my flawed logic, so I take no offense if you question it.

Indeed, whatever new truths or perceptions you discover about yourself as you read this book should also be subject to question, lest you become slave to my philosophy or rational thinking. To be the Verb or an Omni Present man, means that you never limit your own mind to an absolute truth.

In fact, any book you read no matter how inspiring or motivating the author seems to be is a bias and should be questioned. It is only someone’s opinion on how they perceive the world.

No perception or perspective will correlate exactly to another. This would mean that there is no such thing as a complete truth. No two people will perceive exactly the same way. Hence why we all read the same bible, yet we all have many different interpretations of what we read. This is because we humans listen and make interpretations using our filters

A man looking up at the night sky from the bustling streets of a big city thinks he knows what stars look like. This is until he sees them from a clear mountain lake surrounded by nothing but crisp skies and pine trees. Now give the man a telescope. Now send him to the moon. With each change in context and perspective, the man will understand the stars differently.

And yet, even after going to the moon, he still would lack the full perspectives and points of view from which he could give commentary about the stars in the entire universe. While his knowledge has more scope to it than most men would have, he is still limited by context. He now just has more points of view than anyone else.

In fact, he could not even return to the city to arrogantly evangelize his multiple perspectives as absolute truth. He would know that his knowledge of the stars from the moon does not make him wiser than anyone else with a different perspective of them. It just means he knows the stars differently and by many names. “I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing,” said Socrates. The more perspective and points of views you gain on a topic, you begin to realize that there is so much more you do not know.

Hence, the many interpretations and perceptions in religion, politics, race relations, wealth creation and nutrition do not make any one wise or foolish. It just means people have well thought out but different filters, backgrounds and experiences that influence their points of view on the subject. Knowledge is perception. And a worthwhile endeavor if you want to become wise is to accumulate multiple ways of looking at a thing. In doing so, you might conclude something similar to Socrates. Only a foolish or lazy man will offer his insight or perspective as "gospel truth."

Every discord, strife or conflict begins with a perspective claiming to be absolutely true. Land, wealth, love, religion, or just plain day to day interaction with people who have an absolute conviction to their point of view and won’t back down from it. It all comes down to the fact that someone perceives that they have made the only rational or plausible conclusion on a topic. Yet they have no idea or refuse to accept that there are other ways to interpret life and our experiences.

"There is no such thing as a complete or absolute truth."

Let me ask you this. If I throw a ball in the air, what happens? It is going to come down, right? Who in the world is going to argue or dispute that with you? No one will. It would be foolish to dispute.

Gravity in this analogy would be an absolute truth because it rings true to everyone. For a truth to be absolute, it cannot have any other perspective to it. This means that it should not and cannot be open to any different interpretation. 

So, there you have it…. God is not an absolute truth. If he were, he would ring true to everyone. Atheism is also not an absolute truth. If god did not exist, that would also ring true to everyone.

If there were any such absolute truths, they would be something that we all inherently just know. It would be a fact that was programmed into our genetic material. Everyone will know it to be so. It would not have to be taught or learned. Perception or a perspective, cannot exist where an absolute truth does. As such, if god exists, a Christian does not know him absolutely. Neither does the Muslim, Jew etc. It is all context and points of view. Likewise, a Doctor or Lawyer is no smarter than a labor man or a grocery bagger. It is all perception, and their value to society is perceived and in context. A Doctor may currently be viewed by society as more valuable, which is until an unforeseen circumstance happens, and causes a shift in public perspective.

 Just like babies do not dispute nourishment from a mother’s bosom, there would be no perspectives, questions, opinions, or conflict on the matter. It would not change with time, circumstance, or context. It would just be TRUE. I cannot think of anything for which this would be true of. So, until then, the only Absolute truth I have come to accept is that there is no such thing as an Absolute truth.

“All things are subject to interpretation. Whichever interpretation prevails at a given time is a function of context and power.”

 With the sea of infinite possibilities in the world, I have often wondered why people create the same realities for themselves repeatedly. Too often I hear people complain about their relationships, jobs, or people they have let into their lives. They claim to want change in their lives, yet they are stuck in a narrative, telling themselves stories. They will use the same points of view and thinking repeatedly in their lives yet expect different results. That is not just the definition of insanity; it is perception being the root of all evil in that person’s life.

The perceptions in our lives are usually the source of much frustration and anxiety. This is because they are also narrow and leave no room to see. If you find yourself wanting to achieve more out of life than you currently have, then it is time to change your frame and adopt a new one.

Until you rise to that challenge, your life will be a flat circle and you will seemingly keep creating the same reality over and over again in perpetuity. You will make the same mistakes with your family, with your work, your finances, nutrition, marriage, and social life. This is because you are still operating with the same filters, even though the context is different.

It is like a funny quote I once read and decided to rewrite. “A foolish woman will complain and say that all men are the same, while a wise woman will realize that she is the common denominator in all these failed relationships. She will then take action, become Omni present and stop dating the same kind of men”.

Do not laugh yet! You may be the fool I am speaking about. The context of your foolishness is just different. This is the Pentecostal Christian who has been attending multiple midnight church revivals, fasting, and praying for god to bless them with wealth and riches.

Twenty years have passed with no wealth and no riches. Still they wait, still they hope, and still they pray. This is the person who cannot catch a break and keeps finding themselves in the same shitty situations. Perception reminds me of an endless loop. And everyone is on it. You are the foolish woman in one or more aspects of your life. You are just not able to recognize it.

The philosophies you decide to follow and the beliefs you have chosen to accept, keep you in a loop and all have consequences. Being Omni present is trying to figure out what loop your perceptions have you on. 

#philosophy #absolutetruth #thoughts #firstprinciples