3.2 TRUTH

I discovered truth to be quite a big subject so this is just an intro..

But Faith! you may well ask how did that get into this picture.. (see 2.2). Its like this, when you don't know everything, (always true), and you are about to act or do something based on what you do know, what do you call the bit you don't know? But you sincerely or reasonably believe it to be 'true'.

Take the act of going to sit in a holiday deck chair with your sunnies, hat and cold refreshing whatever it is you are about to drink. You do not know it won't collapse under you and dump you on the floor, covered with your drink! You could do a structural integrity inspection and verification procedure, but no one does.. why? Because you have a series of very reliable observations (facts) which tell you the chance of structural failure is acceptably small. That trust in the unknown is what I choose to call 'faith'. It has nothing to do with religion and is based on two key factors..

1. many supporting observations (facts) 
2. an imperative to act (necessary to my life).

I would suggest anyone taking a flight in a helicopter is exercising a good deal of faith. In this context my definition of a fact is simply a verifiable observation.

This 'rational' faith is therefore exercised by everyone all the time, even Richard Dawkins! I am of necessity separating faith and belief at this point as an essential step in understanding truth. So in these terms 'religious faith' is an oxymoron.. it would be implying faith in something I believe, which is more than saying 'may or may not be true', it's not required to be true. Which leads us to categories of truth, next time.

Have a nice day..