Truth

I named my website Marefabulas which is latin for sea stories. I like the thread of my website to be linked to the sea and the oceans.

What has truth got to do with the sea you might ask? Well everything really!

When you leave any harbour and head out to sea you have to deal with different forces of nature, sea state, wind, rain, lightning, hail, cold, heat, wet and of cause the one that effects many of us terrestial beings motion sickness or mal de mare!

There is a universal truth that runs through nature you just can’t avoid. Nature is what it is. As sailor you have to learn to live with its vagaries.

What is truth; Truth, like knowledge, is surprisingly difficult to define. We seem to rely on it almost every moment of every day and it’s very “close” to us. Yet it’s difficult to define because as soon as you think you have it pinned down, some case or counterexample immediately shows deficiencies. Ironically, every definition of truth that philosophers have developed falls prey to the question, “Is it true?”

Simply, we can define truth as: a statement about the way the world actually is. We’ll look at various theories below that philosophers have considered but that’s an adequate rough-and-ready definition to get us started. Coming up with a definition of truth falls under the discipline of epistemology or the study of knowledge though some philosophers categorize it as a study in metaphysics–the study of what is real.

This the philosophical answer to truth which makes truth seem subjective? Subjective; Based upon influence by personal feelings tastes or opinions. Hence the problem we find ourselves with the modern politicized world. Truth is and has become subjective. 

 But is truth really subjective and surprisingly difficult to define? I’ve been pondering this for quite a while brought to the fore with politicians subversion of the truth. Subversion: The undermining of the power and authority of an established system or institution,

I call it a form of demgoguery. Demgoguery: Political activity or practices that seek support by appealing to the desires and prejudices of ordinary people rather than by using rational argument.

Demgoguery is used in the art of rhetoric. Rhetoric; The art of effective persuasive speaking or writing, especially the exploitation of figures of speech and other compositional techniques. Any current British politician that springs to mind here? Classical Greek?

The word rhetoric goes back to the ancient Greeks and the art of persuasion. Aristotle’s three pursuasive appeals were; Logos, Pathos and Ethos.  Logos; reasoned discourse or the augument. Pathos; appeals to the emotion, feelings that already reside in oneself. Ethos; What characterize a community,nation, or idealogy.

As you can see from the above defintions demgoguery or the use of logos, pathos and ethos has been in full play lately in our democarcies.

Now what I’m going to say might startle you? Who was the greatest modern day demgogue we all know; Adolf Hitler the leader of the Nazi party. What was Hitlers leadership style; absolute obedience of all subordinates he viewed government as a structure pyramid with himself as infallible leader. 

Who use to give contradictory orders created competition with overlapping responsibilities, which fostered distrust, competition and infightening among his subordinates to maximise and consolidate his own power. Now who do we know presently as a leader who doesn’t like written orders only gives them verbally and creates disharmony and division? 

As we can see today some modern democracies are headed by dangerous demgogues, why is that I wonder? Maybe democracies have potential weakness in their governing system for these types of charlatans to gain power? Once these people get a foothold on power they create fear and disunity. The new prime minster said something to that effect the other day? “Shape up or I’ll sack you in weeks!’

Lets go back to truth in the natural world, probably why people like Chris Packham become activists they see the natural world in plight. The natural world which we are a part of is in a constant fight for suvival, no question about that!  Each species is predicating another for food, energy and survival. Basically we humans aren’t really any different. Something in the living world has to die for our own sustenance.

Where I’m I going with this question of truth? if it’s so subjective after all why is it we find it difficult to identify truth? is because we live in different realities in our minds. That we are all subceptible to demogogues or rhetorical seducers? Once those rhetorical seducers gain power they will subvert people to their will, and denounce and destroy the oppostion.

Surely the animal kingdom doesn’t work like this? But maybe it does but we can’t always see and understand how animal societies work. Earlier blog post of mine I talk about our close cousins the apes. Fortunately, the ape tribes are usually very small not like human sized nations.

We know that Hitler took his nation to hell and back completely destorying its social fabric. In ape kingdom if and when the Alpha male gets too old to lead, old scores can be inacted on the old leader.

So we all have to be very weary of demgogues they’re dangerous people. Strange that the US and the UK have both demgogues at the head of their respective political parties. Hitler will be chuckling in his grave?

Once a demgogue is in power he’s hard to topple because he surrounds himself with sycophants and spies who come running telling him concocted tales and lies about his opponents.

The US is presently in the process of impeaching their president. In fact its not about the president at all its about the US constitution. Will  it be strong enough to stand up to the demgogue in the whitehouse?

Adam Schiff said if the president isn’t impeached by the senate and the trial becomes a sham then “all is lost” for future of democracy. That’s a real truth!

https://youtu.be/jFICRFKtAc4