Life-Rules about Where Truth Is

This material is suitable for adults and advanced students. Eighth grade and above is about right.

One should have as a Life Goal "To seek and know the truth." This paper has to do with rules about where to find truth: Inside yourself, or outside of yourself.

In first row of the table below are two "main" life rules about where we find truth. Underneith are Sub-Life-Rules or viewpoints. The left column is negative. The right column is positive. These positions are usually held unconsciously*.

To look inside of one's self to find "the truth" is dangerous. Being human, we tend to "bend" our thinking, our observations, and our understanding to match our preconceived* ideas. It means that we are establishing ourselves as possessing the absolute truth. It denies that other people can have a piece of the truth. It denies that we can learn from others. If we rely heavily on our internal perspective*, and ignore external perspectives, then we are egocentric*.

If a person uses the negative Life-Rules, then they will improve the quality of themself only very slowly. After all, if they believe they have the absolute truth, then by definition, there is

NO REASON  TO  CHANGE!

 

On the other hand, if one is able to accept that there is a truth outside of themselves, and that other people may have pieces of that truth, then there is motivation to learn and change.

Bringing yourself into agreement with the external truth is a major step in developing one's personhood!

1	The comments below follow from this Negative Life-Rule: "Truth is internal."	A	The comments below follow from this Positive Life-Rule: "Truth is external."
2	Truth is whatever I think it is. (See papers Thinking Styles & Egocentric Tendencies.)	B	Truth is an absolute, and is therefore not dependent upon me or the way I think.
3	Focus is inward. "Truth is defined by me." This is the egocentric* viewpoint, or "Truth is defined by the group I am a member of," the sociocentric* viewpoint. These are unhealthy viewpoints.	C	Focus is outward. Truth has a life of its own, outside of our self. This is an objective* viewpoint. It is healthy.
4	Great energy is expended in maintaining the internal view of things, because that is where the person thinks his security lies. Thinking tools which lead to challenging the internal view are not used or are used in a distorted way to prevent internal changes.	D	Great energy is expended in searching for the external truth, because our security lies in knowing that real truth. Thinking tools are sought to aid us in that goal.
5	Defending your own ideas is very important.	E	Defending your own ideas is not important. Finding the real truth is!
6	"Self-preservation" is strongly tied to your internal truth.	F	Self preservation is tied to external truth.
7	When truth is sought inwardly, a flawed self will not be acknowledged*. To do so is too painful.	G	A flawed self is recognized as inevitable*. It is not feared, but tolerated. Person works to improve himself.
8	If they contradict one's view, other people's viewpoints are threatening and have NO positive value to the egocentric thinker. They are ignored.	H	Other people's viewpoints are looked upon as a possible resource to allow getting closer to the truth.
9	Internal contradictions* are never acknowledged.	I	Internal contradictions are searched for and acknowledged* within one's self. They are then rooted out!
10	The illusion* of internal correctness is more important than being correct.	J	Being correct in life is more important than appearing correct.
11	This person will struggle to avoid having to recognize and admit he is wrong.	K	This person will readily admit to being wrong, because it means she is growing, and becoming more correct.
12	To appear correct it is OK to use selective memory.	L	Memory is searched for evidence which would contradict* or disprove one's view. This is the "truth squad" at work!
13	All evidence which contradicts* the person's thinking is discounted*, rejected, denied, or ignored.	M	Evidence presented which contradicts the person's thinking is immediately examined for validity* and relevance*.
14	It is a disgrace to appear to be wrong.	N	It is a disgrace to be wrong, even if no one else knows about it!
15	Fairness is OK if it supports my view.	O	Fairness is always sought.
16	If being fair proves me wrong, it is ignored.	P	Fairness is very important, even if it proves me wrong.
17	If someone's argument appears to be strong and contradicting* my internal truth, I will escape the discussion, or I will attack that person.	Q	If someone's argument appears to be strong and contradicting* what I believe, then I will listen all the more carefully! I want to know the truth!

Essay Dictionary (Words marked with *)
acknowledge	To admit to the truth of something, either inwardly to one's self, or outwardly to others.
arrogant	Believing one's self to be superior and of greater value over another person.
contradiction	Relates to ideas which cannot both be true.
discount	To reduce in value below its true worth. Here it means to reduce the value of another person's idea.
egocentric	The firm belief that one's own ideas are the absolute truth.
illusion	A picture or idea that is not real.
inevitable	Sure to become true in the future.
internal perspective	The viewpoint one has, as contrasted with the viewpoint of a different person.
objective	Without bias: a conclusion reached after careful consideration of all the real evidence.
preconceived	Created before having all the information, or before entering into discussion with someone else.
relevance.	Being significant or important as regards to the task you are working on or discussing.
sociocentric	The firm belief that the ideas of the group you are associated with are the absolute truth.
unconsciously	Without being aware.
valid	Being true and useful.

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