Multiple Truths and How It Impacts Our Behaviour - Essay Example

Multiple Truths It is ironic when we hear some ment explaining about the fallacy of truth or something like that. Because how can truth be false? But the irony is, of course, not surprising because as we go about our life with personal experiences and our socialization with our environment, we discover that there are some beliefs that we idealize as truths that are constantly proven wrong. The problem is, it leads us to question whether there is such a thing as an absolute truth or whether truth is subjective since there are those who argue that each of us has our own personal truths. This paper seeks to address the idea of “multiple truths” and how it impacts our behavior. I have taken the Implicit Association Test (IAT) in order to illustrate our objective. I have chosen the GAY PEOPLE-STRAIGHT PEOPLE IAT as I feel it would do best to explain my beliefs and my truths relative to others and my environment. Gay Preference The IAT I have taken aimed to define my attitude towards some groups, specifically homosexuals. According to the result of the test I have “a slight automatic preference for Gay People compared to Straight People.” The IAT cited that “anti-gay attitudes are observed on measures of implicit attitude such as the IAT, and that a persons conscious and implicit attitudes toward gays are more often in agreement with each other than they are for some other socially significant domains.” (see attachment) Hence, my preference is allegedly significant because social acceptability for gay people has changed very little in recent years. Obviously, the IAT has a concept of “truth” based on scientific or clinical criteria. But I have some reservation on some of its ideas in relation to my sexual orientation and personal experiences. IAT Challenge First, I am a straight female – that is a fact that I know more than anyone else. I have a steady string of heterosexual relationships and, although, one may argue that it could not be a measure of my sexuality, I have taken satisfaction and personal happiness in each one of them and look forward to a lasting one. True to the result of the IAT, I have indeed a preference for gay people since most of my friends are but this is not in the area of romantic relationship. Although I enjoy the company of women, I would prefer to be with my gay friends because women tend to gossip too much. In my experience, I have the opportunity to appreciate the good aspect of gay people, which are mostly about fun companionship and remarkable creativity. I am liberal in my values, therefore it probably explains a lot. Multiple Truths Let us analyze the concept of gay preference as a currently held belief. The IAT explicitly defined society’s attitude towards it, which tends to lean more on the conservative point of view. I would like to challenge this by using the “multiple truths” concept, which according to Janet et al. is a result of one the inquiring systems and approaches that continuously attack currently held belief from multiple points of view. (2005, p. 154) The idea of “multiple truths” is simple. Since there is no consensus among scientists and philosophers as to what constitutes an explanation of a phenomenon, there are school of thoughts and methods that, although competing, may each lead to a successful working ones. (Lattal & Chase 2003, p. 48) Thus, we have the incidence of multiple truths. Lattal and Chase strongly argued that different world views with different truths may coexist as a result of this. So how does this relate to the case at hand and furthermore, how does it figure in our behavior - sexually, socially, morally, and ethically? I would like to start with an excerpt in Alon’s book called Chinese Culture, Organizational Behavior, and International Business Management: Postmodernism may be said to involve a transition in styles of belief, creating new schisms and non-ideological, issue-based “culture wars.” It also includes breaking down of the view of the Enlightenment project of scientism or universal rationalism as the single correct, objective mode of representing immanent or metaphysical Truths. (2003, p. 16) Alon further underscored that postmodernism – our time – concerns with plurality and the acceptance of multiple truths as well as the relative rather than absolute objectivity. For instance, in the area of morality, there are beliefs or “truths” that are created or made or constructed rather than being found. Pluralism The effect of “multiple truths” concept on our behavior is short of revolutionary. It allows for individual conceptualization of truth from a learned discourse as to the validity of a reality. Therefore, it encourages the incidence of an interaction within a society rich in diversity, hence more opportunity for dynamism. Let us cite the issue on “gay preference” to illustrate: It was given that I have been reared to a modern and liberal environment where people are measured according to their abilities, skills or degree of personal excellence and even achievement rather than the morally constrained environment in a more traditionalist household. So I have neither issues nor biases with regards to gender, race, religion or social status when making friends or dealing with people generally. I am more inclined to favor situations where I am comfortable, where I can excel and learn. It is the same with choosing friends and acquaintances. In my point of view, this is the way it should be as I go about my life – this is one of those I could consider one of my personal truths simply because it works for me. Yet, I also acknowledge that there are people who do not share this point of view and I respect this fact. I have friends who are Catholics and have very rigid attitude towards homosexuality. Their behavior is governed by a set of standards and values imposed by religion and culture. It is important to note that they are not coerced in following, say, religious rules or a collective racial experience. It is their choice to have faith and fit in a mold because it also concerns some sort of personal truth and persuasions. Let us go on further and discuss human sexuality. A good number of religious organizations consider sex, at least outside marriage, as a sin. However, there are people who view sex as inclusive feature of love. Like when humans long to love and be loved, sex could never therefore be viewed as something negative or evil as the other point of view connotes. Slater and Muir (1999, p. 231) remind us that a belief could only be false if it does not correspond to reality. Hence, it does not follow that when someone is different from a person, from a group – from others – he is immediately on the wrong path and is following a “truth” that is false. That is because, though he and his belief may be nonstandard, his truth works for him according to his personal experiences. We found an interesting insight in Janet’s explanation that the world inquired is interpreted as an open system where all components interact with each other. According to her the truth is temporary and contextually dependent because the more elements are “swept in” the system the more the truth is likely to change. Our time, as mentioned beforehand, is in the midst of changes when technology makes pluralism not only possible but inevitable, bringing people closer together along with their culture, values and orientations. It is not surprising to find individuals, in their quest for truth, favor inquiries that use different modes and approaches according to the situation and personal experiences. It is the same as solving a problem where no absolute method is used because there are myriads available. The only difference is that, the “solution” which is the truth, may not be one and the same and yet they are still acceptable. Again, we argue that these truths may coexist. Going back to the GAY PEOPLE-STRAIGHT PEOPLE IAT, I am not posing any challenge to its results or the parameters or criteria it has set. Perhaps, there is indeed a scientific method of gauging the collective attitude of people. But this is where my reservations set in. I do not believe that it is absolute. I have explained that its finding – its truth – based from my score in the test does not necessarily reflect what I am and my sexual persuasion. People have different experiences and would be in different situations, hence, we would comprehend, react and interpret it in various ways and end up with our own individual truths – some found, some created. Bibliography Alon, Ilan. Chinese Culture, Organizational Behavior, and International Business Management. Praeger/Greenwood, 2003 Chase, Philip and Lattal, Kennon. Behavior Theory and Philosophy. Springer, 2003 Janet, J. McIntyre-Mills, J.P., and Van Gigch. Rescuing the Enlightenment from Itself. Springer, 2005. Slater, Alan and Muir, Darwin. The Blackwell Reader in Developmental Psychology. Blackwell Publishing, 1999 Read More