Introduction ramble: Absolute truth exists

I have a lecture in me yet, that's about reality. This isn't it, but it is a brief comment in response to someone else's Livejournal. I don't have the link - they want it that way. But anyway, here's their scribble:

'It's the holy grail of academia as one author dissects another author's book, until you've got books of waffle, that never go anywhere, and never make their minds up about anything. Topics are always discussed, but nothing is ever right or wrong, and no decisions on any key issues are ever made, as academics remain open minded, and critically aware. And you begin to form this impression, that these "intellectuals" are just elitist nerds, writting a load of crap, to just sell it, get their name about, maybe a bit of prestige, and to your ordinary person, living an ordinary life........it's really all irrelevant bullshit.'

Ok. What we have here in a nut shell is the belief that open mindedness entails being criticially aware, which entails never agreeing with any one thing or having faith in anything. The author explained this to me the other day on a bus in Swindon, and to be brutally honest, I totally disagree. In fact, I think the only people who could possibly live by such a philosophy are either uni students, or academics in their ivory towers where words rule and actions are of little real importance.

The idea that 'absolute truth exists' is true. You can prove it very quickly by doing a simple test. This is it.

The only alternative is that 'absolute truth does not exist'. This is an absolute statement. Therefore, if it is true, it cannot be true. It is impossible logically. If it is impossible logically, then it is untennable as a logical philosophy.

Therefore, absolute truth exists. If for no other reason - because any statement saying otherwise is itself, a truth statement and therefore proving that absolute truth exists. You can wiggle around it if you really want to using clever terminology, but logically you cannot escape this ravine of reality. Clever words mean nothing if the logic is not sound, and sound logic requires cutting straight to the chase.

Absolute truth must exist. Therefore, the quest of life most noble, is to establish what that truth is.

Be open minded, yes. But only in the search for truth. When you locate truth, get inside it. Continue to learn, yes. Continue to be open minded within the boundaries of truth.

But to find truth and then walk away simply because 'you must remain open minded' is a crime against the whole point of open mindedness! What is open mindedness there to achieve, if not to protect us from spending our entire life being wrongly shut in a bad mindset? A closed mind is a dirty word, but if I am closed to the idea that 1+1 could possibly equal 5683, forgive me but, I prefer truth. Does this make me closed minded? To logical fallacy, yes. Am I a closed minded person in general though, because I believe 1+1 will always equal 2? I challenge anyone to negatively accuse me of such a thing.

The point is, you can be generally open minded and a learning, breathing, experiencing human being who is ciritically aware and critically examines whatever comes their way, whilst still having absolute truth claims within your own life. Examples could be 'I do not eat meat' or 'I hate boybands' or 'Cars are a bad thing to have because they pollute and cause athsma' etc. You could have any selection of a zillion zillion personal beliefs in your own life.

It is alright to have a paradigm and still be considered open minded.

In fact, it seems very closed minded to me to suggest that one can never have a paradigm, and if they do accept one (a reference framework for their life's thoughts and beliefs) then they become closed minded. I would argue that true open mindedness is trying things and testing them.

If they work, keep them. You don't throw out truth as best you currently know it, that is where you dwell. Of course, there is always the chance that something may come along to change your beliefs later; there is always that chance and you can remain open minded enough to keep your ears and eyes open. But for this reason, do you refuse to call your faith position/belief 'truth'? Surely this is insane reasoning to do such a thing, for then you can never reach any conclusion and the only thing you are 100 per cent certain to attain in life, is to fail therefore, to know. Anything. Anything at all, in fact.

If you can never reach truth because you will not allow yourself to do so, then you in fact are already dead. Your quests are all meaningless and pointless, because none of them will ever end. The journey has no meaning without purpous. Take away the ability to learn new things and why bother with anything?

I am open minded, in my view. I learn new things, views and opinions all the time. But I weigh them against what I understand and know to be true. For example, if someone tells me to drive at 100 mph whilst drunk to win £4000 in a race, I know this is wrong although there is a chance I could become rather wealthy for doing it. The slight gamble for a positive outcome is seriously outweighed by the very heavy chance I will either die or get arrested. In addition to this, it is morally wrong because it will places lives (mine and others) at risk and life is prescious.

In the end, truth does exist as we proved earlier and so simply. If it does, then life's quest is to find it. When something works and fits, you collect it and add that to your paradigm of life. Over time you learn more and become wiser, recognising false teachings and ideologies that sound so good and taste so sweet, yet the fruit of which is a pointless and meaningless, or sometimes directly harmful life.

In the ivory towers of academia, words rule and reality can be anything clever arguments can construct it out of.

But clever arguments don't work on the street. When people are mugged, or raped or killed; when drugs grip you; when someone you know is trapped in alcoholism; when you lose your baby ... words cannot help you. Academia fails, and life begins. Questions begin.

For me, God works. Jesus heals and He saved me. I challenge anyone to come out of their ivory tower and leave their words behind, to see what happens when reality meets philosophy.

I'm not kidding. If this didn't work, I wouldn't subscribe to it. Frankly I have better things to do with my life than spend it being wrong.