The credit goes to Neil deGrasse Tyson who explained this concept beautifully.
The rise of the internet has led to the many distortion of information. The first thing is to accept that we all have a sense of bias. It’s just hard-wired into the human brain. Some have more than others.
As someone who has committed to constant learning, it is important I that I should source for information that is bias-free.
The 3 categories of Truth are:
Personal Truth
Personal truth is something that you believe is true no matter what anyone else thinks of it. For example, some of us believe that we are descendants of aliens and build a religion around it. Another example, are German Nazis who believe they are superior in every way compared to others.
I believe people have the right to believe what they want to believe.
Where it becomes damaging, is when it starts to distort your ability to interpret reality because you have an unjustified viewpoint based on the belief system that you have adopted. You will feel good about yourself and the group you belong to. But quite often in order to feel good, it involves belittling or ill-treating other groups.
There is no harm in having a personal truth but not to the expense of not accepting the facts or degrading others especially when actual evidence are being put forth. We should all take things with a pinch of salt.
Political Truth
Being human means making mistakes — we all do. Some of us atone for it for the whole course of our entire lifetime. But in politics it could get really dramatic.
Take for instance, Donald Trump calling Hillary “Crooked Hillary”. Indeed, she could have deleted all 33,000 emails and that gave him all the more rights to call her “crooked”. But she has also done so many good deeds to this world and the United States such as her attempt to get rid of “bad teachers” in the education system back then.
I’m not saying that what she did is forgivable and that we should all move on. But to be labelled “crooked” for the rest of your life is not right. People do change. Did she do something wrong? Yes? Maybe? But to be called that throughout your career? I don’t think so.
Objective Truth
Objective truth is something that is true for everyone, whether they agree with it or not.
Objective Truth is when its truth conditions are met without bias (influence of one’s perception, emotions, or imagination).
For example, we all agree that the Earth is round. That’s objective truth. Others may believe the world is flat but the scientific discoveries and proofs all points to the fact that the earth is round.
This is the truth that is rooted in science and facts. Objective Truth should take precedence over any others especially in research and observational studies.