Can knowledge or truth be absolute?

[Grundy]

There are things I can define as completely existant within my local realm of interactivity and others that only exist relative to myself but are not in any way interacting on anything other than a purely physical and relative level.

The nature of knowledge is a sum of experiences and practiced reason that allows a person to assess the world around them. So in other words, what you know without being a smart arse. Knowledge can never be absolute. Ever. There is always some nuance to be learned, and always another level upon which something may be studied or practiced. Absolute knowledge is ignorance.

Absolute truths are easier to pin down because I can name several absolute truths right off the bat:

- large bodies generate graviational fields that attract other bodies to them
- the sun contains large quantities of hydrogen at this point in time
- light travels at 3x10^8 meters per second in a vacuum

All three of those are completely and utterly true beyond any possible reasonable doubt. You could deny them all you wanted but that would make any belief you did hold to the contrary wrong. Truth is a human concept which essentially boils down to "is it correct relative to my current situation or not". Truth in that situation is a malleable concept. An absolute truth though is not something that can be defined to a single person, but to all. Something that is true regardless of situation and rules. So an absolute truth can exist within a closed system.

Tennessee is a volcanic island in the Red Sea = Absolute Falsehood

Tennessee is a state inside the United Sates = Absolute truth

The sun is made of cotton candy and shines by the power of Lucky Charms = Absolute falsehood

The Sun is a mass of hydrogen and helium gas that generates power by nuclear fusion = absolute truth

We live on a giant ball of cotton candy with a Cherry Slurpee core = Absolute falsehood

We live in a nitrogen/oxygen gas envelope on a spherical planet inside a graviy well. = Absolue truth

[RLSteve]

Well, how do you define TRUTH?

When I did Landmark, the forum instructor said something interesting:

You know how in the opening for The X-Files it always says, "The truth is out there?" In actuality, it would be more accurate to say, "The Universe is out there, but the truth isn't, because we have yet to invent the truth about what we have not seen yet."

So, what is truth? Is it just a description/interpretation of what we observe? And if everybody's description/interpretation of what's observed is different... then how can there be any absolute description/interpretation?

Is it true that the sky is blue? Or would it be more accurate to say that most people perceive and interpret the sky to be blue?

Let's say Grundy and I are looking up at the sky, and we agree that it is blue. However, how do I know if the "blue" Grundy sees is the same "blue" that I see? For all I know, he could be seeing what I'd perceive to be "green," but because people have always called it "blue," it is "blue" to Grundy. Grundy and I can only agree that the sky is "blue," but really, we have no way of being sure that we see the same color the same way. We only have language to convey our understanding of truth.

So, where does truth exist?

In the realm of language.

And if we didn't have any language, would there be any such thing as truth?

[James McGuigan]