The truth is too obvious to be understood.

[Seawolf]

Originally Posted by Stillness_Speaks

Hmm... yes. Truth and reality are words that I don't like anymore. It just don't work for me with objective reality or truth. I don't buy it. Can we know anything at all except the (personal) experience we are having right now? If so, how can we know? Memory can not be trusted. The future? Nah... speculation. So, truth or reality can not be remembered and it is subjective I think. Always. That is why we discuss these matters century after century. Experiences can be remembered though... but can we say what is real and true right now because there are thoughts appearing about past events or experiences? Right now someone is having an experience of warm wind, someone else is having a NDE, I am experiencing typing on the puter. That is real and true for us, right now. Only the experience of it right now (not from memory), how wind is generated or anything like that is secondary information, theory and concepts, not experience right now. Not true or real. If anything at all is true and real, it is only experience itself, not the "thing" or scene, just experience itself. Or not

That's a great post! I agree with you, but I don't even trust experience! Experience is filtered through memory, so even the reality of the experience is not pure, it's tainted by memory. 10 people can witness the same event and all see it different, often giving conflicting accounts. I would say that the experience of 'nothingness' or 'emptiness' is a more real experience, since by being empty, it has no memory corrupting it. And interestingly, those who meditate frequently, spending lots of time in the 'nothingness' experience, seem to reap health and mind benefits.

[Gaudium]

It roots perhaps not so much from the origin of human mind but from the social conditioning. For example I recall when I was a schoolboy (end of elementary or start of primary, can't remember for sure) and math got more complicated, I could have answers just like that. Made all the calculations in my head. Naturally this wasn't how I was "supposed to" do it, so I was scolded and ridiculed and math became my biggest problem. Ever after finishing high school I've had problems getting rid of this "programming".

Thus I believe human mind often doesn't see the simple solutions just because we are condition "not supposed to". A lot of things in life are not important at all as we were taught to believe in our childhood and in school and this has caused us a heap of problems. Our priorities in life and how we perceive various aspects in our lives have all made too upside down and complicated because of that.

Only thing to focus on then is to try relieve people from their programming.

[Gem]

The error, as I see it, it the expectation that something should be true. When we say 1 + 1 = 2 we expound a rule of addition. It's not actually true unless we follow the rule. It also describes an experience where one thing and another thing makes 2 things, so it's a language or a road-map, but 'the map is not the terrain'.

To me, the truth is what allows a person to know if they are being honest or deceitful, so I don't know what the truth is in any material sense, but I know what truthfulness is.

[r6r6]

Reality is complex.

Human consciousness can simplify that understanding of reality by using words that act as generalized concepts of reality.

Ex reality = physical/energy.

Tho that is true, it is also true that, the more specific we in understanding reality then the truth is that reality is complex.

To say reality is simple is not true, is at best only, a semi-true statement.

Even in considering that word concept of truth, it has at minimum two aspects:

1) absolute truth,

2) relative truth.

Those make statements that 1 + 1 does not equal 2 are not speaking the truth. They think because language is involved truth cannot be true.

This is people lying to themselves--- i.e. denial of truth ---for so me eegotistcal or religous doctrine and those latter two are probably the one in the same.

1 + 1 = 2 is similar to another fact/truth and that is there can only exist only 5 regular/symmetrical polyhedra in Universe. Which is inclusive of our observed Universe.

Some may call this a rule or law or priniciple but it irresspective of how we label it, it is still and eternal truth that is inviolate.

Those who want to argue absolute truths have an ego problem. imho

Denial is not a river in Eygpt, or I've heard it said.

r6

Originally Posted by Honza

There is something about the human mind which prevents it from being able to understand simplicity itself. It can often understand complicated issues but the obvious often eludes it.
I think that things like reality and truth are too *obvious* for us to comprehend them. They are too simple.