The Truth...Real or Perceived?

How do we assess truthfulness or the truth?  What do we use as a measuring rule to determine if one person or another is being honest and truthful with us?  Is it a matter of numbers…the more people who spout the same thing the more truthful the story?  If two people tell you opposite sides of a story, which one are you more apt to believe?  Is it based on familiarity, closeness, and friendships?  If two people tell you opposite sides of a story and one is black, the other white, is it a matter of race?  Does race determine who we believe in a conflict?  How about position and rank?  Do we tend to believe individuals in higher positions of authority, people who have titles or letters behind their names?  Are they more truthful?

Truth is immutable…it does not change.  It is neither true nor false…it just is.  That might sound ridiculous but its true!  Something that has always existed without change is truth.  A conversation that occurs, a statement that is made, a thing that is done is truth because it can not be changed once it occurs.  That statement, that conversation or that thing which was done cannot be undone and regardless of what is stated or done in the aftermath, it will never change!  It will always be the truth.

The problem here is that we cannot go back and replay those conversations, those deeds, or those statements, like a tape machine or a video recorder each time they must be replayed.  We have to rely on memory and the ability to recall a specific set of circumstances to retell the story.  How we tell the story, who tells the story and who listens to the story will determine the level of “belief” the hearer experiences.  The key word here is “belief”.  What are the “beliefs” of the hearer?  How is the hearer responding internally to what is being said?  What is the hearer’s belief about the person?  Is the person telling the story a friend?  Is the person telling the story black or white, male or female, gay or straight and what are the hearer’s beliefs about the characteristics, attributes or lifestyle of the teller?

Can a prostitute tell the truth about being raped?  Is a police officer always telling the truth?  Do most people believe that a white person will tell the truth more often than a black one?  Do most people believe that a supervisor is “more truthful” than his or her subordinate?  If five people tell the same story about you, is the story true?  Is what they say the “truth” about you?

How do we measure “the truth”?