Once upon a time a photograph used to be deemed as irrefutable proof
in depicting the objective truth/evidence of something.
A photograph didn't lie, a photograph merely objectively recorded something
the way it happened and the time it happened.
Photographs/forensic photography is commonly used as a tool
in the law courts by both defense and prosecution because
photos, whether digital or analogue, has the ability
to ''cement'' a situation, a moment in time close to
''true'', or rather, as in what we consider ''true'' to be.
Let me ask you this: In your view, how does one
decide whether something is true or not?
How do we decide whether something is true or not(false)?
Is it even possible for a human being to ever be able
to judge something without any kind of bias(unconscious opinion)
affecting our judgement?
Outside of mathematical facts and scientific truths,
are we actually able as humans to disconnect ourselves
from our consciousness, emotions and experiences?
Do you know that AI's can lie?
Whaaat?????
Are we so disconnected from any kind of
truth that it no longer matter nor exists?
Are we so royally screwed and disillusioned
about the importance of truth
that we even make machines lie???!!!!!!
-Don't tell me what's true!!! I live according to
MY truth, she said angrily.
-Truth?! You can't handle the truth, said Jack Nicholson
in ''A Few Good Men"".
-Don't tell me that you know the truth. My gut tells me what
the truth is, you don't, he said and walked away.
If I keep claiming,
insisting something to be objectively true,
is that sufficient in itself to show or confirm something
to be so?
I don't believe so.
Objective truth as far as I can understand the concept,
can only be confirmed independently and by a non-human
mind because human minds (so say those in the know)
are biased. (Automatic, prejudiced view-point.)
For a kid in Germany, a pig says: grunz, grunz.
For a kid in Sweden a pig says: nuff, nuff.
For an English speaking kid a pig says: oink, oink.
Who is telling the truth? They all are.
The language used to vocally illustrate the sound a pig makes
can be viewed as a subjective truth. How?
Because, the pig makes the same sound regardless of
the country it is in. The sound is subjective as it depends
on who hears it and then imitates it.
These days it can be very hard to know anything really.
My understanding of ''knowing something'' is to have:
an understanding supported by facts and information
on a subject/something.
In some cases added to this may be personal experience
and an emotional understanding.
There is stuff that I know. There is stuff that I know that
I don't know. There is stuff that I don't know that I don't know.
For me there is no such thing as alternate facts for instance.
(In my view, facts are either verifiable or not and if
they are not verifiable, they are not facts.)
Some people favour the term: alternate facts.
As far as I am concerned however,
the term alternate fact is used to obfuscate and contradict
verifiable evidence/facts and personally I view the term
as an oxymoron.
Sometimes we may prefer not to know some truths.
We may prefer to stay away from information that is
hard to digest and instead try to find
''alternate facts'' that offer a more digestible truth.
One of my favorite people who was able to
serve us some very heavy truths yet have us
laughing while he was doing so, is Charlie Chaplin.
He and other artists and comedians are* the truth-tellers
of ''society'' using their ''art'' to expose hypocrisy
and provide an unflinching and personal reflection
of what they see, hear and experience
in order to challenge us all.
(*His movies are still available for viewing.)
More often than not, I believe that we can all do
every now and then with a dose of truth telling
wrapped up in some profound comedic or
other kind of artistic expression.
"Each person does see the world in a different way.
There is not a single, unifying, objective truth.
We are all limited by our perspective."
(Siri Husvedt)
about the images: top: photo of a glass with Ribena cordial in it
standing on the bench with a single beam of
light shining through it.
Charlie: acrylic on large canvas
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