I think that there are lots of "truths" that actually are arbitrary beliefs stated as illusions of truth.
Can truths only be based on experiments?
Are truths limited by our own nature, us humans living on Earth-planet?
2006-06-25 22:48:01 · 13 answers · asked by Axel ∇ 5 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
Belief is you expect right answer from everyone
Truth is you cannot expect right answer from everyone
2006-06-25 23:21:30 · answer #1 · answered by Kgs 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Well, your question is a little bit philosophical. If we want a absolute answer on this one, we might have to ask God.
To distinguish a TRUTH from a BELIEF is like separate black and white from a lot of gray.
We used to believe that earth is the center of the Universe, and it is flat. And everyone think it is the TRUTH until Galileo.
A truth is a element which can stand infinite testing. Since we can't run infinite test on everything, we can never be sure which one is the absolutely truth. So after exhausted ourselves with the scientific deduction or any other method with the subject, we assume, or believe we have the truth. So the best way to seek a truth is to keep an open mind. As long as we admit that we have not exhausted every option, we should always consider the possibility of the truth we upholding now might be just a belief.
In the daily life, simply, a truth is a belief which has generally accepted by the majority of human population. A belief that we used to believe, and proved to be wrong by certain test, is a false belief. There is no such thing call "false truth" because it is not existed.
So in the end, a truth cannot based on limited experiments, and it is limited by our own nature. Unless, you are a God.
Then, next we should say, "I believe it is true with my experiements."
2006-06-26 06:15:17 · answer #2 · answered by Who knows nothing. 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Oh, i like this one.
Well, looking at this a beleif seems to be a human thought that could be truth without being proven as such, else it would be called a truth, On the flipside a truth could be considered to be a belief that has been proved as consistent outside in the world and away from the person that believed it. So, Einstein's theory of reletivity was firstly a belief held by Einstein that had to be proved. When itn was shared with the scientific community and proved during the eclipse on that island (my history's shaky) it was heralded as a truth because outside of those that beleived it (in this case the universe or the solar system) it appeared to be the same.
So onto the next point, can truth's only be based on experiments? All experiments are ideas taking place in the real world, because we beleive that the real world, the outside world is the most valid. This heralds back to the Enlightenment debate, is a belief less powerful than a truth? If in ancient greece people believed an oracle could dispense advice and it led to war, is it less powerful than political debates today based on population pressures or mineral wealth? The war still has the same effect, no side fights less hard because of it, and no army ever goes to war thinking God is on the "other" side. So form this point a truth is merely a beleif with an added distinction of being partly there when the person beleiving it isn't around, and this footnote can be argued not to mean much at all. Gravity always existed, but we couldn't fly to the moon until someone believed it, but it was always there. you could think of beliefs as things that inspire action, inspire living, but it doesn't have to exist physically to matter. A country is an idea, formed by the people in it, there are no walls or boundaries the earth has created, we have created our nations. A truth in turn is a beleif acted out physically, instead of merely the idea it has a substance in the world we can use and manipulate directly. But by whatever means they appear to be almost identical by their results, which are both physical and not.
2006-06-26 06:02:03 · answer #3 · answered by jleslie4585 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think there are a few more words that the question writer has not introduced. Those words are FACT and FAITH.
FACT is that which may be proven, either through experiment or research.
TRUTH is the interpretation of that FACT. While only a single FACT may exist, many TRUTHS may evolve from it. Throw a stone into the air, and it falls. Why? Whatever it is that you think is the most correct answer is complete TRUTH to you.
As far as experimentation and research goes, that's what gets us to FAITH. FAITH is thinking something is true without any underlying FACT.
A BELIEF is just the combination of multiple, related TRUTHS or FAITHS. Put enough similar ideas together, and there's your BELIEF structure.
It gets even more complicated when your realize that of all the TRUTHS that we build for ourselves, some are based on FACT, and some are based on FAITH. What is even more important is that to understand each other, we must acknowledge that others hold their TRUTHS just as honestly as we hold our own. It is the lens through which we see our world.
2006-06-26 06:08:24 · answer #4 · answered by jmtmeyer 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Saying something is a truth based on scientific experiments is somewhat of a misnomer. Things can never be proved to be true, they can only be proved to be false. The lack of evidence proving something as false does not equate proof of truth. So how do we distinguish between truths and beliefs? We can't.
2006-06-26 05:52:42 · answer #5 · answered by quintessence19 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
quote: "I think that there are lots of "truths" that actually are arbitrary beliefs stated as illusions of truth."
i absolutely have to agree
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Can truths only be based on experiments?
nope, i think that even experiments are limited by "our own nature, us humans living on Earth-planet" like you well put it.
what i think: that there aren't absolute truths but only relative: meaning they're true only to the one(s) who can experience it so to others these would be beliefs. but it got all tangled already lol
2006-06-26 15:36:29 · answer #6 · answered by ? 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Truth is a COMPLETELY different phenomenon from belief.
There is no need to distinguish them.
Truth is the way the world is.
Belief is the way a person THINKS the world is.
Sometimes the persons belief also happens to be true, and if a person is justified in this belief we call this belief -- KNOWLEDGE.
2006-06-26 13:05:32 · answer #7 · answered by hq3 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Truth is the unity of Logos (reason) and Onto (reality).
Belief is the affirmation or denial of an informed proposition (two or more concepts joined by a copula).
Good question.
2006-06-26 05:59:24 · answer #8 · answered by echotexture 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A truth is something you have actually experienced. While a belief is something you believe to be true.
2006-06-26 05:51:52 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Descartes said you couldn't. Don't think about this one too hard. It won't be beneficial.
2006-06-26 07:48:07 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋