A friend of several years from my work in electronics, Neil, had this to say about telling the truth.
Telling the truth is ALWAYS fraught with peril, and must be undertaken with either subtlety or brazen effrontery.
Ain’t it the truth.
Telling The Truth
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5 responses to “Telling The Truth”
I have learned that the truth tends to be believed chiefly by those who like the particular truth in question.
“A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents die and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it.” – Max Planck
The funny thing is that I happened to be watching a documentary on Galileo when I read Kathy’s comment. Most inspirational.
It seems that Galileo was concerned not so much with getting the truth out (which he assumed would happen anyway), but with making sure Italians continued to lead the scientific revolution. He warned that if the Church forbade discussion and publication of heliocentric thought, that scientific leadership would pass to the northern Europeans. Which it did. And in the end, Dutch and English looms along with English coal precipitated the Industrial Revolution.
I think Max had it right, but he may have missed something. And that something has an impact on the scientific community as much as the ‘common’ man.
“A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.” Mark Twain
Science is generally honest. But it is best if we remember that it, too, can lie. Oddly enough, the scientific method is the cure for that little problem. Test it.
The greatest deceivers never lie; they just speak limited truths.