An Invitation To Search For Truth

"We don't even bother being curious anymore because somewhere, someone on "our" side has a position." 

In these 31 Days of October I am unpacking my learning from the book, Braving The Wilderness, by Brené Brown. She has been a favorite author for years. In this new publication she manages to build a sidewalk and curb in the wilderness where we can bravely tread.

Chapter 5 of Braving The Wilderness is called, "Speak Truth To Bullshit, Be Civil".  It is not my choice of words but I couldn't find another word to accurately describe "BS", the  wholesale dismissal of truth that often is pedaled as facts.
I am not just speaking of politics. Let me review three trends that are personal to my search for truth. 

    When I was in high school I took debate classes. Our teacher pushed us more in acquiring good information than in rhetoric. "Check your sources", was something I heard everyday. A good quote had to come from, not just a leading magazine or book, but from a reliable author or journalist. Being convincing was only half the battle.

   I took that same attitude into my genealogy research. Having three primary sources was my standard which I learned from a genealogist who felt that there was too much "BS" in public records due to a disregard for research. 

   Studying scriptures also gave me a challenge to dive deeper for understanding. A commentary by a writer who is referring to the Bible is not the same thing as reading the scriptures ourselves. Insight into spiritual things comes from wanting to know truth and the truth can be demanding.

   These examples are just a few. There are countless others. With so much information at our finger tips why is it harder to find the truth? 

    "When we give up on believing that there are actual truths that can be known, we give up on the notion of objective inquiry. It's like we jus collectively shrug our shoulders and say, "Whatever. It's too hard to get to the truth, so if I say it's true, that's good enough."

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