From IkerdJ@missouri.edu Tue Aug 24 13:32:48 1999 Date: Tue, 24 Aug 1999 09:19:27 -0500 From: "Ikerd, John E." To: "SANET-MG (E-mail)" Subject: Truth and Belief [ The following text is in the "iso-8859-1" character set. ] [ Your display is set for the "US-ASCII" character set. ] [ Some characters may be displayed incorrectly. ] Sanet; It's all a matter of belief - the mental acceptance of and conviction in the truth, actuality, or validity of something. All facts depend on beliefs because all proofs rely on beliefs concerning the appropriate process for separating fact from fallacy. This does not imply that all truth is relative, or that truth is determined by beliefs. It means that truth quite simply has more than one dimension. Thus, a person with one set of beliefs may see one dimension of truth while a person with another set of beliefs sees another. Truth cannot be whatever we might wish for it to be, truth exists as an absolute. Some things are false and others are true. But, those things that are true have more than one dimension. The more dimensions of truth we are able to see, the more we are able to understand it. Our unique beliefs limit us individually to seeing only one dimension of truth. We can see other dimensions of truth only through those who hold beliefs different from our own. At least, that is what I believe. John Ikerd For those who believe No proof is necessary. For those who don't believe No proof is possible. John and Lyn St. Clair Thomas To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". If you receive the digest format, use the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail