Rock 'n Rollers Don't Bathe

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The Truth.
You ever sit back and consider how inaccurate the majority of what you read is? It's probably something most people don't think about a lot. I suppose if you did it too much you run the risk of going a little batty. Many of us who think we have a rounded perspective are really just searching for ideas that enforce the ones we already have. We all want "The Truth." A least we act like we do. The problem is that unlike a science experiment, when it comes to human social activity, the truth is an ever fleeting concept. I remember at one point in my teens I thought the best way to live my life was to tell everyone exactly what I thought of them at all times. That didn't work out so well. In retrospect half what I thought was the truth turned out to be just fleeting thoughts that were totally inaccurate. I grew to learn that by the mere act of speaking or writing I enter the world of the subjective.

It's the truth that the WTC was struck by planes and fell on September 11, 2001. The truth behind reasons for that occurrence will be the topic of debate for the rest of human history. Beyond the literal act in its self, the truth about the motivating factors in this will probably never reach a consensus. People will continue to spend their lives and lose their lives based upon what they believe to be the truth about things like 9-11. Even if we could know the truth...even if we could find that silver bullet that would sum up this very complex social dysfunction that inspires certain groups of people to want to kill other groups of people you'd still have to sell the idea to the world. The truth is not always self evident for everyone. Considering how long it took for that "world is round not flat" idea to catch on it's hard to imagine the "People shouldn't ever kill people" one getting through any time soon. I suppose if you wanted to look at it through a cynical lens, what would all of the people who make their living making guns, and bibles, and martyr videos do? My point is that the truth is work. And all of us on the lookout for cushy desk job. There is a saying: The truth hurts. But that's not really true because the truth doesn't have feelings. It's kind of like saying water hurts. Water doesn't hurt. 2 parts Hydrogen fuse with 1 part Oxygen and there you have it. People hurt. Occasionally, they mask or displace their pain by persecuting other who they see as standing in the way of what they perceive to be the truth at any given moment.

We read inaccurate and opinionated accounts of events every single day. Never was this more apparent to me than hearing the TV news reports of the events at Occupy Wall Street after having witnessed them for myself. We use reported accounts to form our general outlook on life. I don't blame journalism. I don't think that all of the multitudes of opinionated news sources available through the Internet are necessarily a bad thing. In the early stages of mass media we soon learned how the masses can be manipulated. In the early days news forums were limited and trusted as beacons of truth. The weren't any more so than they are now. More of us were happy to take that cushy desk job when it came to informing ourselves about the world around us. The Internet shows us that the truth is messy. Some think that the Internet tries to provide us with this encyclopedic account of truth with unlimited space for archiving or things like Wikapedia. But if there is truth in the Internet I believe it comes in the form of an endless search. And engines that accommodate this endless search that makes all of our lives valid and no more worthy than another to exist.