You Can't Handle The Truth (pt.1)

What is truth? Granted that's kind of a grandiose, unanswerable question, but I ask it within the context of time. You see, nothing is absolute. The same goes for truth. For that "absolutely, 100% of the time" kind of answer we often give or receive. It just doesn't exist. Being positive only lasts for a period of time. Eventually, that positive expires as someone or something else comes along to refute it or amend it. Such is the way of life. It keeps us on our toes, and shows that we're all still learning.

Back in grammar school, a quiz was handed out on astronomy and space. I had actually enjoyed the subject quite a bit, so it wasn't a chore to do the reading or exercises.  And as with most things I liked, I did exceptionally well when it came to testing my knowledge. One of the sections of the test dealt with the planets. We were to name them, put them in order from closest to the sun to farthest, and note how many moons each had. I got all 9 planets, in order, and listed their moons. 100%.

If that same quiz was given to a student in grammar school today, and he/she answered exactly as I did, they would have a few marked wrong off the bat. Not everything that was true 20 years ago, is still held to that esteem today. Now, we only believe that there are 8 true planets on t he solar system, Pluto no longer receives that distinction. But 20 years from now, who knows what the scientific community will hold as "the truth?"

So with this idea of truth ever changing, it's a wonder that we still search so hard for it, and base so much on it. Even our court systems are corrupted by truth. It wasn't until the 1980's that DNA testing and profiling was really made available and consistently used in criminal cases. So how did they convict so many people up until then? Nowadays, genetic fingerprinting is the best and most accurate way to prove guilt or innocence. Think about how many people were wrongly convicted before this was made available. The truth can be seen in re-trials an the re-opening of cases based off this. 

Truth is merely the best conclusion we can reach given the materials and knowledge we have at the time. As technology and our understanding in different fields improves, so does our ability to better discern the best truth. Because truth is a byproduct of our understanding of things. It doesn't make the "truth" of centuries ago any less real or correct. That truth was the best conclusion they could come to then, based off the information at their disposal. Just as centuries from now, they'll look back on us and think our methods were comparatively as primitive.

It just goes to show that the struggle for truth is a never ending journey, and once attained, chances are it's reality has once again changed.