"The truth is more important than the facts" - Frank Lloyd Wright
We just won't let that one slide, will we? How could we?!
For most of us the facts are the truth. The facts are just the way things are. Unadulterated. Unvarnished. Uninterpreted. Just the facts, right?
At this point we could rehearse three centuries of doubts about indubitable assertions of sensory realism (that is, the facts). We could offer the ultimate trump of all knowledge - that everyone sees and senses uniquely. So? So, there's no such thing as 'the facts' when it matters how we experience life. The facts are relative or just plain impossible to take as certain; that's what we think of when we hear words like 'truth' and 'fact.'
There's a parable from India about five blind men and an elephant. Five blind men are asked to describe the elephant in the village.
One touched the lag and said the elephant was a pillar.
Another touched the tail and said it is like a rope.
The third found the trunk and said it was like the branch of a tree.
The fourth, touching the ear, said the elephant was like a big fan.
The fifth said it was like a great wall because he was touching the side of the elephant.
In versions of the story the men begin to argue until a wise man comes by and says it doesn't matter because each man is right.
But the story needs to keep going and someone needs to ask the 'wise man' a question.
