# Is truth really up for debate? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 9, 2013, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-truth-really-up-for-debate/665823 "2013-08-09T18:21:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-truth-really-up-for-debate/665823/21 "2013-08-09T18:52:35Z")
> [@aNewLeaf](#): > > maybe next we can address whether it is duck season or rabbit season. It’s fiddler-crab season! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-truth-really-up-for-debate/665823/22 "2013-08-09T18:53:37Z")
> [@Okieshowedem](#): > > Strange that no one wants to hear the truth anymore. You don’t want to hear the truth any more? Why the heck not? ---
**Author:** ![aNewLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-truth-really-up-for-debate/665823/23 "2013-08-09T18:55:05Z")
> [@Okieshowedem](#): > > Strange that no one wants to hear the truth anymore. > > Okie Tell us the truth, don’t link to it. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-truth-really-up-for-debate/665823/24 "2013-08-09T18:55:41Z")
> [@Okieshowedem](#): > > If you would read Romans 6:16 you would see who takes responsibility for folks like yourself. Unconvincing in the extreme and doesn’t answer the point. God created the world with both good and evil. He didn’t have to do that, yet he did. So, it is God’s responsibility there is evil in the world. That’s **Czarcasm** ’s point. That’s entirely aside from whether or not people choose to do evil, which is a different (unasked) point you chose to address instead of answering **Czarcasm** ’s actual point. > [@Okieshowedem](#): > > Strange that no one wants to hear the truth anymore. Start with facts, not truth. The “truth” is too much a subjective experience, especially when religion is involved. But one personal “truth”: I dislike being spammed with the same website, especially when it is unusually devoid of sound reasoning. ---
**Author:** ![Okieshowedem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/okieshowedem/32/7278_2.png) [@Okieshowedem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Okieshowedem)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-truth-really-up-for-debate/665823/25 "2013-08-09T18:55:49Z")
> [@aNewLeaf](#): > > So, it’s more like an actual, literal reading of John 3:16. The choice is to perish, or have Everlasting Life. By the way did you know that the Hebrew Name of this great apostles means Yahweh is Merciful? Okie ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-truth-really-up-for-debate/665823/26 "2013-08-09T18:56:05Z")
> [@Okieshowedem](#): > > Strange that no one wants to hear the truth anymore. > > Okie Give us your best argument that it _is_ the truth. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-truth-really-up-for-debate/665823/27 "2013-08-09T18:57:23Z")
> [@Okieshowedem](#): > > By the way did you know that the Hebrew Name of this great apostles means > > Yahweh is Merciful? Cite(that isn’t the original one in the OP)? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-truth-really-up-for-debate/665823/28 "2013-08-09T18:58:05Z")
> [@Okieshowedem](#): > > Strange that no one wants to hear the truth anymore. Sure. Anyway stop with the constant linking. People who have been here for a while will tell you that repeating the same thing over and over and over does not convince people that it’s the truth. ---
**Author:** ![Okieshowedem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/okieshowedem/32/7278_2.png) [@Okieshowedem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Okieshowedem)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-truth-really-up-for-debate/665823/29 "2013-08-09T18:58:26Z")
> [@aNewLeaf](#): > > Tell us the truth, don’t link to it. Are you Christian? Okie ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-truth-really-up-for-debate/665823/30 "2013-08-09T19:01:27Z")
> [@Okieshowedem](#): > > Are you Christian? Does that effect your answer? ---
**Author:** ![aNewLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-truth-really-up-for-debate/665823/31 "2013-08-09T19:02:50Z")
> [@Okieshowedem](#): > > Are you Christian? Does my religion have any bearing on the truth? ---
**Author:** ![aNewLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-truth-really-up-for-debate/665823/32 "2013-08-09T19:04:04Z")
Oh, and putting text in the title boxes is just weird. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-truth-really-up-for-debate/665823/33 "2013-08-09T19:10:51Z")
> [@Okieshowedem](#): > > Those who think they know are the very ones that are deceived by the most subtle creature that the Creator of all things has created so says the Scriptures. > Okie Well, you certainly think you know. Can you do the implication? Get thee behind me, Okie. Voyager - never have been a Christian, never will be a Christian. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-truth-really-up-for-debate/665823/34 "2013-08-09T19:12:00Z")
> [@Okieshowedem](#): > > By the way did you know that the Hebrew Name of this great apostles means > > Yahweh is Merciful? > > Okie Did you know that my name means “Son of the wise man crooked nose village?” ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-truth-really-up-for-debate/665823/35 "2013-08-09T19:14:17Z")
I thought it meant one thousandths of an r. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-truth-really-up-for-debate/665823/36 "2013-08-09T19:16:52Z")
> [@pancakes3](#): > > I thought it meant one thousandths of an r. I always thought he had a little pirate in him. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-truth-really-up-for-debate/665823/37 "2013-08-09T19:21:09Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Well, you certainly think you know. Can you do the implication? > Get thee behind me, Okie. For what it’s worth, Okie’s oft-mentioned cite spells out the following: _“the whole world is deceived … the Holy Scriptures say that Satan has not just deceived a few; they say that she has deceived the whole world.”_ Oklahoma is presumably included. ---
**Author:** ![Longshanks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Longshanks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Longshanks)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-truth-really-up-for-debate/665823/38 "2013-08-09T19:35:56Z")
If jesus was replaced by some guy called spag bol you would probably be worshiping the flying spaghetti monster right now. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-truth-really-up-for-debate/665823/39 "2013-08-09T19:40:04Z")
There actually is a (minor) debate among philosophers over the nature of truth. The conventional reasoning is that there actually is a truth, and that we can come close to it, approaching it asymptotically. Science is the usual technique. We keep trying things, and eliminate those things which aren’t true. There may always be a margin of uncertainty, but the idea is that there really is a truth. The minority view is that there might not be such a thing. The truth might not be out there. It might be fuzzy and elusive, as the location of particles in quantum physics. It might be self-contradictory. Our cognitive tools – our reason – might simply be insufficient to the task of defining it. It isn’t one of the major burning issues of the day… ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-truth-really-up-for-debate/665823/40 "2013-08-09T19:53:01Z")
Going along with what Trinopus is saying, here’s an introduction to the philosophical discussion about truth from the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: [Truth (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)](http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/truth/) Warning: not light reading. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-truth-really-up-for-debate/665823.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-truth-really-up-for-debate/665823.md?page=3)