New URL address, as of January, 2002. Please bookmark this page and change any links. Thank you ---- neil

These pieces now serve as one of a series of campaign position papers.

(Added Note - September 25, 2001)

Further Note:

While this file gives the definition of just what truth is,
a new file, added to this website on September 9th, 2002
explains just how truth is to be found:

"Pearl Harbor, The WTC/Pentagon Attacks,
And The Mathematics of Political Accuracy

Click here for that file

The following is the basis by which I use the terms 'truth' and 'accuracy'.

It is my understanding that in presenting my view of what "truth" is, I am alone. In direct, and absolute disagreement with the view I present here, are all the scientists, artists, philosophers, spiritualists, historians, political writers, and scholars that I've ever heard of - left, right, up, down, here, there, and everywhere. Naturally, being so alone in this view, I had to work out the explanations and definitions myself.

I mention this lest the reader think I haven't heard how mistaken I am regarding my understanding of what truth is. Indeed, not only have I heard that I am mistaken, but such is the 99% cacophony pouring out from every pore of academia, the media, publishing, and everywhere else one turns.

All my life, that's all I've heard, how "no-real-truth" is, wink wink, the "sophisticated" view. So, having to put up with the same monolithic wall of "no-real-truth" that everyone else has to put up with, I just thought I'd mention that I already know how wrong all the allegedly "sophisticated" types claim to think I am.

So, all that billion-to-one odds notwithstanding; I submit that this understanding that I'm presenting of what truth is, fulfills the criteria of being accurate to nature, and is highly relevant and very very highly useful, in our time. Even though everyone, and I do mean everyone, else seem to project this great certainty that I'm wrong, that truth is different for everyone.

And I further submit that the other understanding, the one held by the other six billion people, or however many, the one about "no-real-truth", "there's-only-perception", and all that other nazi baloney, is all wrong, in every way, for everyone, very much including all wrong for every one of them, by their own standards.

I'm right when I say truth is singular, and they're all wrong when they say it's different for everyone, they're all wrong, going back to Socrates, and long before, every last one of 'em, by their standards as well as mine.

So, the following is what I mean when I use the words 'truth' and 'accuracy':

First of all:

This bioecosystem works on a singular reality system, in which illusions play a mostly helpful role.

Accurately identifying some part of that singular reality is what is meant here by the term truth.

A proper definition:

The word truth, refers to a description that conforms to some part of the singular, never changing, hard, cold reality arranged by the five billion year old bioecosystem at this star.

When something is true, it has the properties of being singular, absolute, and consistent with everything else that's true, and it is the same for everyone and never-changing, that is, constant for all time.

Definition of what truth is, that's first.

Second:

One third of the mind, one third of the thinking process of each individual person is, by evolutionary design, well equipped to accurately identify that singular reality.

As regards first-hand observations, 98% of what any person sees, everyone sees in the same way, and that common perception matches up with the singular reality of this bioecosystem.

Those are the facts of nature that I use as the basis of my use of the terms truth and accuracy.

The problem of people being mistaken regarding what they think is true, derives, not from a mistaken first-hand perception, no no. It derives from a person believing another person to be speaking honestly, when that other person is consciously deliberately misreporting perceptions. Believing other people to be speaking honestly, when they are in fact "lying about what they understand"; that is the 95% reason for being in error about reality.

It's not a person's five-senses that are betraying them, nor their intelligence; rather, what is betraying them is believing one who knowingly lies, to be a sincere person. That's the killer.

Difference Between Truth And Perception Of Truth:

Perceptions are a collection of neurons and electrons in the mind, a picture, so to speak of what the person thinks reality is, of what the person thinks the truth of something is. Of what the person considers an accurate description of reality.

A picture of reality is different from reality itself, reality being the actual thing itself that the mind has a picture of.

It's pretty easy to imagine: Like with a camera; a picture of something is different from the thing that was photographed.

Most people have enough experience with things to notice the difference between the thing you're taking a picture of, and the picture of it that you now have.

The difference between the photograph-on-paper example and the perception-of-truth-in-the-mind example, is that the photograph is a recording on paper and the perception is a collection of electrons and neurons recording the circumstance in the mind.

When you look at a tree, the picture of the tree that you have in your mind is different from the tree itself. The tree, the thing you're looking at is part of singular reality - singular reality which is the same for everyone, and never-changing.

But, although in this or that case, your mind is 99.9% likely to give you an accurate picture of reality, sometimes it doesn't. The point is, whether or not your mind gives you an accurate picture of reality, the picture in your mind is a different thing from the part of nature's singular reality that you're looking at.

The whole business of the truth being a different type of thing from perception of truth; is not that hard to understand.

The problem is, many people claim to think that there is no "real reality", no solid world out there. They claim to believe that there's only people's perceptions, really, just illusions, different for everyone, no singular, constant reality to refer to.

Thus, when such people talk, they aren't interested in what's true - they claim to think there is no real truth - they figure, there's only whoever can project their perception most strongly.

Thus, the things that people who are in that frame of mind say, are never designed to match up with what's true - since for them, there is no real truth in the first place, just "who can look more sure of themself". All they can think of is who can project the strongest perception. No real truth; only the power to project and enforce perception.

This does not in any way match up with the bioecosystem we happen to be living in, even though the vast majority of the world's most prestigious individuals insist that they are absolutely certain of it; that is, are absolutely certain that there is no real truth.

One more time:

When something is true, it has the properties of being singular, absolute, and consistent with everything else that's true; and it is the same for everyone and never-changing, that is, it is constant for all time.

And,

One third of every human being's mind evolved specifically for the purpose of discerning exactly what that same-for-everyone, singular reality is.

Note:

Additional, very specific, precise, comprehensive,
and graphic definitions of truth-related terminology,
appear in the *.gif image chart "Definitions".

One Further Note
Regarding The Idea of Truth As Commonly Understood

(This next section is a reprint
from the "Opening" post in this series)

The illumination of the nature of truth shown above is one of the features
of this paradigm that distinguishes it from all other large-scale plans.

In various religious systems, and some fascist systems as well,
truth is understood to be absolute and singular, but, it is claimed,
an ordinary human can not figure out what the absolute truth of
something is because they are not smart enough - only God is
smart enough to figure out the absolute truth, and an ordinary
mortal must depend on "belief" in the word of God or some holy
messenger.

In the allegedly enlightened capitalist view, on the other hand,
the reverse is said to be true, namely, that people are plenty
intelligent, but, still they can't figure out the truth of something,
because there is no real truth in the first place.

And among various mysticisms, 'new age' ideas, and 'free
thinkers', it is often claimed that, both, there is no real truth, and
even if there was, an ordinary human does not have the cognitive,
rational capacity to figure it out anyway.

Thus:


a. Religion -

Yes there is absolute truth,
but you're not smart enough to figure out what it is.


b. Capitalism -

Yes you're smart,
but there is no real truth to begin with.


c. 'New Age' and 'Mystical' Thinking -

There is no real truth,
and people do not have that sort of massive,
Rational, cognitive capacity anyway.


The fourth possibility is the one that everyone berates, but no one,
until now, seems to hold, namely that:

This bio-ecosystem works on a singular reality system
in which illusions play a mostly helpful role,
and when something is true, it has the properties of being
singular, absolute, consistent with everything else that's true,
the same for everyone, and never-changing, that is,
constant for all time;

AND

Each individual inherently possesses the internal,
cognitive, conscious ability to determine exactly
what that same-for-everyone truth is.


Again:


Religion

- Absolute truth; but people can't figure it.


Capitalism

- People are intelligent; but there is no absolute truth.


New Age and Mysticism

- No absolute truth; people couldn't figure it anyway.


Paradigm from California - alone among the great schemes:

- There is absolute truth, and every person has
the internal capacity to figure out just what it is.

Note:

There is a one page, graphic elaboration on the above
in the *.gif image chart entitled "Left and Right".

Additionally, Chapters Thirteen and Fifteen of the paradigm proper
contain a detailed elucidation of the psychodynamics of excluding
the notion of truth and accuracy from one's thinking processes.

This matter of truth as a singular, same-for-everyone phenomenon,
is one of thirty elements that make up "Paradigm from California".
For a one-page listing of a few of the other twenty-nine unique,
high level 'elements' that make up this paradigm,
see the *.gif image chart entitled "Elements".

Important Note on September 25th, 2001

There are some people who might agree that when something is true, it has the properties of being singular, absolute, and consistent with everything else that's true, and it is the same for everyone and never-changing, that is, it is constant for all time.

However, such persons may also make the inaccurate claim that such holds only for physical objects, not for ideas.

In fact, this is not in any way the case.

Ideas are every bit as material, and are also either true or not true, in EXACTLY the same way as a statement about a physical object is either true or not true.

EXACTLY the same definition holds whether the subject is a physical object or an idea.

There is a clear explanation of the difference between physical objects and ideas, in the "Neandertal" paper elsewhere at this site.

Section I, "Introduction" gives a brief summary of this matter.

Sections VI and VII, "The Class/Member Distinction - Classroom Magic", and "Type Two Logic - Tomato Magic" gives a clear explanation of the distinction between "objects" and "ideas".

And Section XVII, "On Ideas As Concrete Things - Wanna Be An Engineer" explains the fact that ideas have EXACTLY the same true-or-untrue properties as do physical objects.

If readers have any questions about this, I urge them to read those further illuminations regarding this matter of ideas being true-or-not-true descriptions of concrete, singular reality, in EXACTLY the same way as the report of a physical object is either true or not true.

As regards the definition of truth given here, it holds in exactly the same way, at all logical levels of life.




A further essay on how the truth of something is found, has been added to this web-site on September 9th, 2002
Click here for that file

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Paradigm from California
© Neil R. Miller 1978-1997
neil@imaginenine.com
http://imaginenine.com
The Environment for Cognitive Development
PO Box 31035, San Francisco, CA 94131

The following definitions apply for all Paradigm from California materials.

I consulted no reference sources in composing these definitions, but rather concluded, from thirty years of reading the several hundred books listed in the bibliography that these are the most useful definitions of the terms defined. Thus, it appears to me that these definitions fit, not only for their usage throughout Paradigm from California, but, it also seems to me that they fit the most common general usage.

Note: There is a color graphic rendition of the relation between some of these terms in the *.gif file called "Definitions".

Definitions

SINGULAR REALITY SYSTEM
The structure by which the bioecosystem at this planet operates.

At another star, or in another galaxy, or in another dimension, it is possible that there is a multiple reality system.

But at this star, on this planet, the particular four billion year old bioecosystem in which we all live operates on a singular reality system.


ILLUSION
One aspect of the human mind within this bioecosystem, is that it is capable of imagining things that do not exist within this bioecosystem. A "picture" that forms in the mind, that is not a report of this bioecosystem's singular reality, but bears some partial similarity to reality, is called an illusion.

The ability to conjure illusions is an absolute requirement for life on this planet; illusions are a required life nutrient. The great problems arise when the ability to distinguish illusion from reality is lost, or when one is confused with the other.

THIS BIOECOSYSTEM, REALITY, AND ILLUSION
This bioecosystem operates on a singular reality system in which illusions play an often vital, and mostly - but not always - helpful role.

TRUTH.
The word truth, refers to a description that conforms to some part of the singular, never changing, reality arranged by the five billion year old bioecosystem at this star. When something is true, it has the properties of being singular, absolute and consistent with everything else that's true, and it is the same for everyone and constant for all time.

UNTRUTH.
An untruth is an idea or description that does not conform to this bio-ecosystem's singular reality, as evident to the cognitive mind of every human.

EXTREMELY USEFUL AND VITAL TO LIFE UNTRUTHS.
A special kind of untruth that evolved alongside the central nervous system, functioning for the intellect, emotions, and behavioral governance much the way calories and oxygen function for the more formally understood physiological systems. Helpful untruths are nutrients, and are every bit as vital to human life as oxygen, truth, protein, and the other main nutrients.

What distinguishes helpful-untruths from lie-untruths, is that, in the high level presentation of helpful untruths, they are never presented as descriptions of literal truth.

LIES.
A lie is a special sort of untruth wherein it was originally depicted as true, conforming to singular reality, where it was known by the reporter to be untrue, while being reported as true.

What makes the word lie an ugly, anger-provoking word, is that a deliberate misrepresentation of a human perception of literal reality, puts a person who believes that the liar is being honest, puts that person at high risk of injury or death.

More relevant to current circumstances, and deadlier still, believing a lie, and mistakenly believing that a liar is not lying but is accurately portraying human perception, skews a person's understanding of reality in an insanity-producing, imbecility-producing, and highly damaging manner.

Lies kill, the everyday social lies, and the high level lies, kill, big time, just as sure as gas and bullets. In fact, it is lies and lying that drive the bullets. Major. A lie, ANY lie about anything, is, quite literally, THE social nazification procedure. And those who most heavily promote those patterns in others, are the deadliest nazification militants of all.

MISTAKES.
In the context of this truth/untruth/lie matter, a mistake is a description that does not conform to singular reality, and which the original formulator/perceiver thought did conform to reality. Until, hopefully he or she found out better.

Being mistaken causes no interruption whatsoever in integrity, and in fact, persons of integrity may often be mistaken . . . it's part of the song . . .

Remember, the person who is quick to acknowledge when they are mistaken, is always right. (Derived from a Russian proverb "The man who knows he's a fool, is no fool.")

A PERSON WITH INTEGRITY.
A person who never gives, what they know to be inaccurate reports, about what they perceive to be true. One who, it turns out, can be relied upon to give accurate reports of human perception, which, in turn, engenders a powerful sanity and intelligence in those who look to them.

One who never lies about what they understand the truth to be.

A LIAR.
A person who sometimes lies about what they understand the truth to be as a general pattern. This term is particularly applicable to those who protect the entire social system that allows deliberate misreports of perception to go undetected (see below).

A person who deliberately misreports their perception, in order to survive in a particular moment, is not necessarily a liar. But a person who lies as a general pattern, who does not acknowledge at the first opportunity, who lies to a person with integrity, or who thwarts exposure of the deliberately misreport perceptions system altogether, falls fully and directly within the classification of the term "liar".

Liars generate the deadliest mental toxins known to humans, both the low level everyday liar-toxins leading to local derangement and stupidity among those around them and among the general population, as well as generating the major high level toxins, such as the preposterous "inevitability-of-work-out-poorly" 'idea' as a general pattern of life.

ANGER.
A mechanism specifically developed through evolution to serve the specific function of informing of the damage wrought by lying.

SELF-EVIDENTLY TRUE
A person understands a statement to be 'self-evidently true' when, upon careful scrutiny of the statement, the person has to consciously deceive, or consciously lie about what they understand to be true in order to claim to disagree with it.

INTELLIGENCE.
Putting many things together in a way that is truthful and, first and foremost, that solves problems of damage and loss to everyone.

IMBECILITY.
Putting a few things together in a way that maims, destroys, and, especially, destroys solving. The cia for example.

A REALITY
An aspect of this bioecosystem or a report of an aspect of this bioecosystem.

PERCEPTION OF REALITY
A configuration of electrons and molecules in a person's mind that forms a picture in that person's mind of some aspect of reality.

REPORT OF PERCEPTION OF REALITY
A description given by a person, usually spoken or written, of what that person perceives an aspect of reality to be.

DELIBERATE MISREPORT OF PERCEPTIONS
A deliberately inaccurate report by a person of their perception of reality. A polite way of identifying a person as lying about what they understand.

A LIE ABOUT WHAT ONE UNDERSTANDS
A deliberately inaccurate report by a person of their perception of reality. An angry way of identifying a person as deliberately misreporting their perception.

DELIBERATE MISREPORT PERCEPTIONS SYSTEM
A polite way of describing the collection of various methods and techniques by which the general practice of deliberately misreporting perceptions remains hidden.

THE NAZIFICATION SYSTEM
The blunt way of describing the collection of various methods and techniques by which the general practice of deliberately misreporting perceptions remains hidden.

DELIBERATE MISREPORT PERCEPTIONS SYSTEM CONVERSATIONAL CONVENTIONS
The individual methods and techniques of everyday conversation by which the Deliberately Misreport Perceptions System is kept from being exposed.

It is accurate.

• Its explanation falls entirely within the accurate/inaccurate framework and it is accurate at its highest level and throughout.

It is useful in the extreme for work out well all around.


• It is useful in the extreme, in, specifically, a work out well all around direction.

It is new.

• It is entirely new, particularly its single high level discovery and many medium level discoveries.

It conforms entirely to what is already scientifically and self-evidently known.

• Its specific low and medium level portions are accurate to what is already known scientifically and by common experience.

It is relevant.

• It is highly and pointedly relevant to all or almost all of the major and local problems of humankind now faced by all those who face them or attempt to face them.

It solves in the conventional, real life, work out well sense.

• It solves in the conventional, everyday, real life, daily life, work out well all around sense, quite directly, as well as in the long term; six billion people wide, real life, by everyone's standards, no tricks, as illustrated in detail in the enclosed.

It is comprehensive.

• It is comprehensive: work out well all around is based on an overall accounting that includes 100% of the population (six billion people presently), or by a lower level calculation, 99.99% of the population but not below that.

It is complete.

• It is complete, a finished work, and has been for ten years, and it has gone through three major upward additions and strengthings since it was completed. And, if humanity survives, many more to come, of course, before it is superseded.

It is clear.

• It is clear, it is clearly written, it is succinct, it is attractively and modestly produced, and it is unobtrusively presented.

It is easy to grasp.

• It is easy to grasp: harder than arithmetic maybe, but easier than algebra. Social terror systems aside, it is easy for any person to understand.

It is seen through the alert, conscious, critical, reasoning power of each individual person.

• It is seen through, and is entirely subject to, the alert, conscious, logical, critical, scientific, five-senses/self-evident, broadly and deeply aware internal reasoning power of each individual; taking 360 degrees of things into account, including unexpected things. It uses no "unexplored parts of the mind", no "psychic forces", no "believing in", no "new-age knowledge", no "walking on the water", no "curve balls", no deception and no deceptions; in a crucially important sense, no surprises. Again, no tricks; all very straightforward, using familiar, conventional types of thinking, and clear, very well defined and conventionally defined language. Hold me to this item every minute, big time. It's my specialty.

It stands on its own.

• It is a structure that stands on its own, in full conformity with self-evident reality; it maintains as an accurate, useful system; it stands, independent of an attachment to a particular person or group. Again, the maintenance and advancement of this paradigm does not require the backing of a particular individual or group of individuals, but rather requires only the backing of accurate reports of everyday, daily life, including scientific and artistic work, in the present and nearby, from elsewhere, and through all history, those accurate reports all coupled with the internal, conscious, critical intelligence of each individual of the population. It doesn't stand on a particular individual or group; in the real world, within this bioecosystem, as a very high level, scientifically known element in the entire four billion year bioeco system of this planet, like arithmetic, like chemistry, like astronomy, Paradigm from California is a system that just stands, and like them too, in human terms, it stands, forever.

Summary of Paradigm Qualifications

• Accurate
  
• Useful
  
• New
  
• Conforming
  
• Relevant
  
• Conventional
  
• Comprehensive
  
• Complete
  
• Clear
  
• Easy
  
• Intelligent
  
• Resilient
  
• Available
  
• Attractive
  
• Consistent
  
• And it's all done with words, freely considered

Paradigm From California
© 1978-1997 by Neil Miller;
P.O. Box 31035; San Francisco, California 94131
e-mail - neil@imaginenine.com
www - http://imaginenine.com

Criteria - November 17, 1994

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e-mail - neil@imaginenine.com
world-wide-web - http://imaginenine.com
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Nature of Truth - © August 1, 1985; April 17, 1996

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