On the first post I spoke about how the problem of Truth has increased since G.K. Chesterton first pointed it out over a century ago. The effects of a loss in the belief of the possibility of truth has had effects not simply in religion, but actually in every area of human endeavor. You see, when G.K. Chesterton wrote there was still a belief in science though religion had taken quite a pounding. What I mean by a belief in science is not a religious belief, but the belief that the scientific method could lead us little by little to more and more knowledge, even though at times it might mean one step back for every two steps forward. There was also a belief during this time that historical studies could yield good information about events, that archeology could let us know our past, that psychology could help us understand ourselves. This was the age of the finding of Troy, of Sigmund Freud, of the invention of flight, etc.
But, all that has fallen apart. If you look at my list, there is not one of the subjects mentioned in which there is a belief in truth left. History is questioned through books such as the Da Vinci Code, the films over the assassination of John F. Kennedy, and the scholarly studies that purport to show that nothing at all ever happened in any way near the way in which we received it. Truth has so fragmented in history that any conspiracy theory is reported somewhere as the “real” truth. While it is somewhat true that the winner write the history, one cannot stretch this statement to the extreme that history is nothing more than historical fiction. And yet, that is a very common supposition nowadays.
In archeology, I am only conversant with Middle Eastern archeology. But there a movement was present a couple of decades ago that even denied that King David had ever existed. Some branches of that movement denied he had ever been, while other branches argued a more moderate theory that he was simply a hill robber-baron who harassed the legitimate governments of the area. It was the finding of archeological evidence with King David’s name on it that finally won the day, although there are still remnants of that particular movement. However, a rather stupid version of the destruction of truth in archeology is the whole Mayan calendar argument.
Despite the advances in the understanding of human psychology, there are multiple schools of psychology some with quite contradictory theories. This cannot be helped until more information is gathered. However, there have been wonderful advances in the field of neuropsychology. But, all too much of psychology has descended into psycho-babble of the worst sort in the popular understanding.
And, finally, science itself has fallen. On the one hand, technology keeps progressing, there are still scientists doing some good research. However, think of the people who are willing to believe almost any so-called research simply on the belief that those who know the truth are being suppressed by the “scientific establishment.” There is no doubt that there have been times in which the scientific establishment has been slow to believe some research or other, but wholesale suppression was only common in the Communist and fascist countries. Yet, the idea of truth in science has been severely weakened here in the USA.
Are you beginning to catch just how much the idea of truth has suffered in the last few decades?
===MORE TO COME===
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