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Recognizing the Three Brands of Truth
In any argument or discussion, there will always be three truths. Yours, Mine, and the Absolute.
If you believe that the truth is the truth, you are right — but you are also wrong. This is because in many instances the truth is entirely dependent on viewpoint.
In Return of the Jedi, Luke confronts Obi-Wan’s Force ghost about claiming that Darth Vader murdered his father, rather than telling him Vader WAS his father.
Obi-Wan: “Your father was seduced by the dark side of the Force. He ceased to be Anakin Skywalker and became Darth Vader. When that happened, the good man who was your father was destroyed. So what I told you was true, from a certain point of view.”
Luke: “A certain point of view?”
Obi-Wan: “Luke, you’re going to find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view.”
That last line is the perfect explanation of this. Point of view will influence truths we cling to.
Let’s look at a modern example: Climate change. One the one side, the argument is that this is a man-made problem we need to address before we destroy the planet. On the other side, the argument is that this is not a real problem, and that we can’t destroy the planet through our actions. The absolute truth falls somewhere in…
