Truth, not Belief is the Gold Standard

So many gullible.


If Truth is so Valuable, Why is There so Much BS

Far away philosophically and spatially , in the wilds of San Francisco is a Public Radio affiliate that demonstrates an independence. Dominated by KQED, the thoroughly liberal powerhouse station, much smaller KALW (FM 91.7) has decided there is more to programming than Car Talk, Garrison Kellior, All Things Considered, and agenda. Aside from their country music emphasis, they are originators of a remarkable amount of self programming. And it works. (Yahoo them) Since January 2004, two philosophy professors have aired a Sunday morning call-in hour called Philosophy Talk, “The Program That Questions Everything - Except your Intelligence”.

John Perry, Henry Waldgrave Stuart Professor of Philosophy at Stanford U. is the originator of the program. He and Stanford Philosophy Department Chairman Ken Taylor discuss topics from Why don’t molecules fly apart? to Vegans. Even the doctrine of preemptive self defense is derided, not because it is bad or good but because it is not a doctrine (a systematic body of evidence and belief that is self reinforcing).

I was not privileged to hear their program on truth vs. BS but my two bits says they likely examined the other things in life we hold valuable. Well, gold is one but so is a child, a friend, peace, a happy time, and the satisfaction of a job well done. You can likely add more; please do. The quality all of these share is rarity.

Were gold as common as iron, its value would be the same or even less since iron is much stronger. Were a children to be lifted from apple trees by the dozen, they might as easily be discarded after a short period of enjoyment; say the first diaper change. That one special friend with whom you can share any of your experiences with empathy is beyond price. That peace time of rest and quiet between turmoil and worry is when we can regain composure and strength to overcome the next stressful period. Each is beyond price because of scarcity. And the work plus effort needed to overcome the previous problem.

In mining gold, the ratio of metal to ore is spoken in terms of ounces per ton. An ounce is 1/16th of a pound. 1/16th of a pound per 2000 pounds or one part per 32,000. You must separate 32,000 ounces to get 1 ounce of gold at this yield! Current economic yields are 2 - 5 ounces per ton. Takes a lot of money to get even 10% return on investment at this rate.

It is a very good thing the yield on children is not similar. Yet each child requires an immense effort to produce a mature adult. Gestation is considered a trial, particularly the last several months. At every stage raising a child requires substantial effort and expense. The “terrible twos” then teenagers are just two of the times that require even more intensive exertion. Then seeing them make their own mistakes was, for me, the most difficult of all. The kid must learn the lessons the outside world teaches and I must not interfere lest those lessons be devalued and the mistake repeated. So parents must put 20 years of work into the making of one mature adult. Of course less effort means less maturity so kids are like many things; what you get depends on what you put in.

It seems that many people do not know a friend. Analysts, advisors, counselors, therapists; many paid professionals but no friend. Perhaps Ophra or Dr. Phil or a politician provides an inferior substitute but there is no conversation or trust investment. Even many marriages have partners rather than friends. Here is the reason there is so much BS. There are so few friends. Lotsa acquaintances and entertainers and politicians but damn few friends. Friends can bare their souls, admit mistakes and stupidities without fear or rebuke. Friends understand and accept our weaknesses just as we theirs. Friends make each other stronger. Friends are not “discovered” but are, like a successful garden, cultivated. The friendship grows as more work and effort is put into it. Unlike a garden, friendship requires trust to grow. Trust is the fertilizer of friendship. And trust requires absolute truth. Any fraction less than total truth degrades trust therefore friendship. BS ranges from outright lies to “shading” facts with artful word use to using words of ill defined meaning as slogans to substituting belief for fact. BS is the opposite of truth. Trust is bestowed rarely. So BS, the common ore, must always greatly exceed in quantity the gold of trust. And be of almost no value. And that is why there is so much more BS than truth. The BS people cannot trust you with truth. The BS people attempt to convince you there is no truth by shoveling an overwhelming amount of what they do in hopes of creating confusion. There is always truth but it always requires effort. Otherwise it would be of no value.