Showing posts with label Aristotle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Aristotle. Show all posts

Thursday, 10 May 2018

Absolute truth doesn't exist

There is no absolute truth and that’s the absolute truth. Truth is surprisingly difficult to define. Truth is defined as the body of real things, events, and facts. Truth is most often used to mean being in accord with fact or reality, or fidelity to an original or standard. Truth may also often be used in modern contexts to refer to an idea of "truth to self," or authenticity. The best-known saying about truth is by Aristotle "To say of what is that it is not, or of what is not that it is, is false, while to say of what is that it is, and of what is not that it is not, is true". It is not the only thing Aristotle said about truth.
  • It’s doubtful whether there is any such thing as the truth.
  • It is an absolute truth that absolute truth doesn't exist.
  • Truth is agreement of thought with its object. 
  • Truths are facts. And there are no facts, only interpretations.
  • Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.
  • The opinion which is fated to be ultimately agreed to by all who investigate, is what we mean by the truth, and the object represented in this opinion is the real.
  • Telling what is not true may result in legal and social penalties. 
  • Truths are subjective; absolutism is objective. So, the question is whether something subjective can be objective.
  • Anyone who believes in absolute truth is a fanatic or in imminent danger of becoming a fanatic. Absolute truth is the mother of extremism everywhere.
  • Truth is in the eyes of the beholder. It may not appear as truth to others. 
  • Absolute means completely. Try as you will, there will always be a trace of untruth. Nobody is capable of an absolute truth. Therefore, there is no such thing as absolute truth.
  • People tend to have different opinions, which is natural. Because of these differing opinions some might view a certain topic morally right whereas others might see the same issue as completely immoral. 
  • Deciding that absolute truth doesn’t exist is much more sensible than believing that they absolutely know everything.
  • The idea of something being 100% right can always be challenged.
  • In every statement, there is an ounce of bias, and bias is opinion, and opinion cannot be taken as fact.
  • Truth comes only from the laws of nature. Nature always demonstrates its laws. Therefore truth is unique and universal.
  • Let’s not ask what truth is. Let us ask instead how we can recognize it reliably when it appears. Four factors determine the truthfulness of the explanation: congruence, consistency, coherence, and usefulness.
  • Truth is a complex, contradictory process in which error is constantly overcome through the development of knowledge, while truth itself becomes increasingly complete and profound.
  • Any truth is objective. Subjective truth is merely an individual's opinion. Its content does not depend on the will, desire, passion or imagination of human beings. 
  • We are humans who depend on relationships to survive. When it comes to stating your opinions without being asked, it is likely you shy away from telling a friend, colleague or family member something that you fear could hurt. As adults, we rarely choose to deliberately do something that will hurt people we know. We especially avoid sharing a truth face-to-face that could embarrass, offend or wound someone we like. 
  • It’s been said that everybody lies, but the question is when, to whom, and why? And if someone is lying, how can you tell? The detection of deception is big business with big stakes. Children’s lies are ridiculously easy to spot, but as we get older, we get better at disguising the truth. We don’t necessarily get better at spotting it. 
Mahatma Gandhi said truth is what the voice within tells you. What may be truth for one may be untruth for another. It is not given to man to know the whole Truth. His duty lies in living up to the truth as he sees it, and in doing so, to resort to the purest means, i.e., to non-violence. God alone knows absolute truth. It follows that man, a finite being, cannot know absolute truth. Relative truth is all we know. Therefore, we can only follow the truth as we see it. Such pursuit of truth cannot lead anyone astray.

If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything ... Mark Twain
The truth is rarely pure and never simple ... Oscar Wilde 
Half a truth is often a great lie ... Benjamin Franklin
Truth can be stated in many different ways, 
yet each one can be true ... Swami Vivekananda


Tuesday, 30 May 2017

Anger

Everyone experiences anger. Anger is an intense emotional state induced by displeasure. 

Anger could be stratified into three modalities: cognitive (appraisals), somatic-affective (tension and agitations), and behavioral (withdrawal and antagonism). A person experiencing anger will also experience physical conditions, such as increased heart rate, elevated blood pressure, and increased levels of adrenaline and noradrenaline.

Aristotle felt that anger or wrath was a natural outburst of self- defense in situations where people felt they had been wronged.
  • Most people experience anger as a result of "what has happened to them".
  • People feel angry when they care about has been offended.
  • The behavior of angry person warns aggressors to stop their threatening behavior. 
  • When a man becomes angry, he has no shame, no fear of evil and is not respectful in speech. 
  • Anger triggers part of the fight. Anger is expressed in awkward facial expressions, body language etc.
  • Anger activates aggression, it is neither a necessary nor a sufficient condition for aggression.
  • Anger impairs to exert cognitive control over their behavior.
  • Anger is used as a protective mechanism to cover up fear, hurt or sadness. 
  • Anger is a conscious behavior to stop the threatening behavior of others.
  • Anger negatively affects personal or social well-being. An angry person loses objectivity, empathy, prudence or thoughtfulness and cause harm to themselves or others.
  • An angry person sleeps poorly, destroys his health, wealth and status. Relatives, friends, & colleagues avoid him. 
  • A moment of patience in a moment of anger saves a thousand moments of regret. Anger begins with madness, and ends in regret.
  • Anger makes people think more optimistically, dangers seem smaller, actions seem less risky, ventures seem more likely to succeed, and unfortunate events seem less likely. Angry people are more likely to make risky decisions, and make more optimistic risk assessments.
  • The display of anger can be feigned or exaggerated. Anger is a strategy of social influence and goal achievement.
  • Angry people are less likely to suffer heart disease and more likely to receive a pay raise compared to fearful people.
  • People tended to be more flexible toward an angry opponent.
  • Showing anger increases the ability to succeed in negotiation.
  • Without anger, teaching will be useless, judgments unstable, crimes unchecked. Therefore to be angry is not always an evil.
  • We worship God by expressing our honest anger at him.
  • Women's passive nature is due to their lack of power compared to men. 
  • Physical altercation occurs with prior expression of anger by one of the participants.
  • Anger can boost determination toward correction of wrong behaviors, promotion of social justice, communication of negative sentiment, and redress of grievances.
  • Anger always results when we are caught up expecting the world to be different than it is.
  • An internal infection can cause pain which in turn can activate anger.
  • Anger is the fume of an irritated mind. It is caused by the thwarting of desires. It feeds the limited ego and is used for domination and aggression. 
Thinking before speaking, expressing frustration in a mild way, daily exercises, short breaks, identifying solutions, not holding grudges, use of humor (not sarcasm), relaxation skills and seeking timely help are some techniques to control anger and keeping cool. 

You need to accept that life sometimes is unfair, then you can pursue positive purpose. You can work constructively against injustices you find, transforming your anger into passion. Or you can pursue fulfillment in spite of the unfairness that exists.

These days in India, ferocity of mob threats and crowd size indicate the authenticity and depth of the grievance. The management of staging of spontaneous popular anger is a key political technique in contemporary India. Only a spontaneously angry crowd gets taken seriously, if it is Hindus. Any Muslim crowds will be routinely dismissed as 'staged' or 'instigated' by dark, hidden forces. In reality mob violence was rarely prosecuted as a crime. Shiv Sena which practiced threat of mob violence in day to day politics was always helped by police standing by and never ever booked and prosecuted.


Anger gets you into trouble, ego keeps you in trouble.
Anger and intolerance are the enemies of correct understanding ... Mahatma Gandhi
Whatever is begun in anger ends in shame ... Benjamin Franklin
Anybody can become angry - that is easy, but to be angry with the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for the right purpose, and in the right way - that is not within everybody's power and is not easy ... Aristotle

My View:
After passing through several decades in life I realized that anger was never worth it. It spoils communication and relationships and pushes you into isolation. Situations deteriorate and restoring normalcy is another nuisance activity. Anger communicates nothing where as silence is golden. So better follow age old advice ... when you are angry count ten before you reply. Not so easy.